The Sioux Valley Cossacks will square off against the Baltic Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sioux Valley has three straight wins, Baltic has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Sioux Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Dakota's top teams: Flandreau, who was ranked 20th at the time (Sioux Valley was ranked 25th). The Cossacks' pitcher stepped up to hand the Fliers a 10-0 shutout on Monday.
McKinley Schwab
| 04/21/25 @ Flandreau | 16 |
| 04/17/25 vs Chester | 11 |
| 03/29/25 @ Flandreau | 6 |
McKinley Schwab made a splash no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 16 over seven innings pitched. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 6.6 strikeouts per game. She was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Amelia Jacobson was incredible, going 3-for-5 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Morgan Lemme was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Sioux Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Baltic lost 19-8 to McCook Central/Montrose on Tuesday.
Finley Kortemeyer and Kaylee Siemonsma did some serious damage despite the final result: Kortemeyer went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, while Siemonsma went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and one run. Those RBI marked the first that Siemonsma has brought in this season. Another player making a difference was Amaris Handsaker, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run.
Baltic's loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 5-4. As for Sioux Valley, their victory was their first in the region, bumping their region record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-3.
Sioux Valley took their win against Baltic in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 12-2 score. Do the Cossacks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bulldogs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
