Legion Baseball
ABERDEEN, SD (HubCityRadio.com) – The Class A Legion baseball pairings are set & the Aberdeen Smittys know their next opponent, with a trip to Rapid City on the line for the state tournament.
The Aberdeen Smittys are the #14 seed & they will take on the #3 seed, the Yankton Post 12 Bucks in a best of three series starting on Wednesday, July 22nd in Yankton. Game one of the series has a first pitch slated for 7p & then game two of the series will be on Thursday afternoon at 12p & then a potential game three (if necessary) will follow, immediately following game two.
The Smittys took on Yankton earlier on this season at Fossum Field during a doubleheader on Tuesday, June 9th. Yankton swept Aberdeen, winning game one, 9-0 & then a 9-4 triumph in game two.
The state tournament will be held in Rapid City, starting on Tuesday, July 28th & concluding on Saturday August 1st. Fitzgerald Stadium will be the destination for the tournament, as the #1 seed Rapid City Post 22 squad receives an auto-bid as being the host squad for the tournament.
Even though the Smittys finished the season just 12-22, they’re starting to round into form before the playoffs start. They’re currently riding a three game winning streak, which ties their longest win streak of the year. They wrapped up the regular season this last week with a 14-4 win over Redfield Clay Kiser on Wednesday & then a doubleheader sweep of Spearfish Post 164 on Thursday, winning 9-6 in game one & then 13-3 in game two.
Karson Borge joined David Tukesbrey & Matt McClure on “The Sports Hub” on Friday and he believes the team is peaking at the right time, “I think I am the most I’ve been ‘locked-in’ I’m ready for regions and I think the team feels the same way. We’re hitting the ball the best we have all season, we’re pitching & fielding the best (we have been) right now.”
Head Coach Josh Steinwandt’s thoughts on the matchup: “Yankton is going to be a tough matchup for us, but we know we can compete with anyone on any given day/night. We have competed with the best I the state when (we) put everything together. When we are field the ball without giving them extra outs and we are putting the ball in play, good things happen. Recently we have been doing that and that’s why we have been winning a little more recently. They are going to have good pitching and if we can put pressure on the base paths, we will find success.”
The rest of the pairings can be found below.
(1) Rapid City Post 22 receives a first round BYE.
(2) Sioux Falls West vs. (15) Huron
(3) Yankton Post 12 vs. (14) Aberdeen Smittys
(4) Brandon Valley vs. (13) Spearfish
(5) Brookings vs. (12) Sioux Falls East
(6) Rapid City Stars vs. (11) Mitchell
(7) Pierre Post 8 vs. (10) Watertown Post 17
(8) Harrisburg vs. (9) Renner