State youth baseball roundup: Parkston surges for Class B Junior Legion title

Aug. 11—MILBANK, S.D. — Parkston Post 194 claimed the South Dakota American Legion Class B Junior baseball championship on Sunday, capping a three-game triumph through the state bracket. Parkston won the title 12-2 in five innings over Belle Fourche at Legion Field.

Over three games in the state tournament, Parkston scored 34 runs and capped a 19-4 season with a 12-game win streak. It is Parkston's first Class B Junior Legion state title.

In the championship game, Johnny Weber held the Broncs in check with five strong innings, allowing two hits and one earned run, while striking out six. Parkston scored two times in both the first and third innings for a 4-0 lead and led 7-1 after four innings before pouring in five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 10-run lead and an early celebration of the championship.

Landon Weber, Reco Muilenburg and Jaxx Kurtenbach each had two hits for Parkston, while Muilenburg and Carson Bueber each drove in a pair of runs.

In the semifinals, Parkston defeated Sioux Falls Post 911 by a score of 17-8, using 15 hits and an eight-run seventh inning to put the game out of reach. Mason Jervik, Javin Kniffen and Jaxx Kurtenbach each had three hits, with Kniffen driving in five runs and Jervik knocking in three. Bueber was the winning pitcher with three innings pitched, five runs (three earned), while Brycen Bruening and Zach Thuringer covered the final four innings in relief.

Parkston's closest win of the tournament was a 5-4, 10-inning victory over Clark Area on Friday in the quarterfinals. Carson Bueber's RBI walk in the 10th inning with the bases loaded provided the walk-off heroics for Parkston. Grady Bowar drove in two runs, including the game-tying RBI single in the fifth inning to make it 3-3. Playing in extra innings with a runner at second base to start the frame, Will Hovde's RBI single in the top of the 10th inning put Clark ahead. Parkston tied the game at 4-all when Mason Jervik scored after a Kurtenbach sacrifice bunt was misplayed by Clark. Clark intentionally loaded the bases with two walks but Bowar scored the winning run when Bueber walked on five pitches. On the mound, Zach Thuringer was the winning pitcher in relief, recording four outs, while Bowar started and threw seven innings on the mound and allowed five hits, three runs (two earned) and struck out six.

Dakota Valley finished in third place with an 11-6 win over Sioux Falls Post 911. Belle Fourche defeated Dakota Valley 7-4 in Saturday's other semifinal game. Scotland/Menno/Freeman/Canistota finished 2-1 and in fifth place for the tournament, defeating Madison 15-1 on Sunday. SMFC lost 5-0 to Sioux Falls on Friday before claiming a 5-0 win over Clark on Saturday, ending the season with a 24-3 record.

Scotland/Menno and Tyndall were among the area teams to claim a South Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars 14-and-under baseball state tournament title on Sunday .

Scotland/Menno claimed the Delta division state championship in Britton, making a 4-0 run through the final weekend to claim the title. The Trappers won 12-2 over Miller and 11-1 over Elkton in pool play before picking up an 8-0 win over Britton in the semifinals and an 11-2 championship win over Garretson.

At the Echo Division tournament in Clark, Tyndall won the title over Parkston by a 6-4 score on Sunday. Platte/Geddes finished in third place with a 12-6 win over Clark Area, while Canova claimed fifth place with an 8-6 win over Wessington Springs. (Tyndall won 10-7 over Clark in the semifinals, while Parkston won 7-4 over Platte/Geddes.)

Three other state titles were awarded at the 14U level, at the Alpha tournament in Sioux Falls, Madison claimed the state title with a 12-10 win over Vermillion. Emery/Ethan claimed third place with a 10-3 win over Dakota Valley. The Marlins finished the weekend 3-1, with a 6-1 win over Milbank and a 9-4 win over Sioux Falls Christian Blue on Friday in pool play before falling 9-1 to Vermillion in the winner's bracket semifinals on Saturday.

Sisseton won the state title 11-5 over Dell Rapids in the Bravo tournament in Clear Lake. Winner was third with an 8-0 win over Tri-Valley and Wagner took fifth place with an 11-5 win over Claremont. Hosts Volga White claimed the 14-and-under Charlie division title with a 3-1 win over Salem in the championship game on Sunday. Mount Vernon/Plankinton finished in third place, winning 11-2 over Corsica/Stickney. (Volga won 15-5 over MVP and Salem won 5-4 over Corsica/Stickney in the semifinals on Saturday.)