By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Baseball: Aberdeen Takes Class A Championship
The Aberdeen Smittys won the South Dakota Class A state high school baseball championship with a 10-0, five-inning victory over Rapid City Central in Yankton on Monday. The title game triumph notched Aberdeen’s fourth state championship in the last five years.
Aberdeen finished a 17-3 season with the championship cake-walk at Riverside Park. They reached the finals with a 9-1 victory earlier in the day over Mitchell.
The 10 runs in the finale came off 11 hits. Aberdeen struck early with four runs in the first inning, including two on a double by catcher Justin Heier. The Smittys got the other two on an error by Central second-baseman Bobby Meyers.
Aberdeen scored three times in the second inning, with two on a double by right fielder Evan Nolte and another on an RBI single by pitcher Sam Heintzman. A single run in the third inning and two more in the fourth finished off the Rapid City team.
"We average eight or nine runs a game and you have to credit the kids for that, they're getting their swings down and being patient,” Aberdeen coach Justin Krogstrand told the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader.
Central reached the finals with a 2-0 victory over host Yankton. A home run from Tommy Berg beat the Bucks, preventing them from getting back to the finals for the third straight year.
Baseball: Parkston Takes Class B Crown
The Parkston high school baseball team put the finishing touches on an undefeated season in Monday’s 9-4 win in the Class B championship game over Garretson. It’s the second straight title for the Parkston club, which ended the year with a 16-0 mark.
They wrapped up the championship with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth after leading 4-3 in the fourth frame.
Dylan Mock, Spencer Freudenthal and Tom Murtha each had a pair of hits for Parkston, while winning pitcher Brady Nolz struck out six and walked just two batters in five innings of work.
Garretson was led by losing pitcher Nick Bonte, who struck out nine and walked five, while allowing six runs on six hits. Bonte also hit a solo homer at the plate to lead the Garretson offense.
Parkston reached the finals with a no-hit pitching performance from Murtha in a 10-0 win over Winner-Colome. Garretson reached the final game with a 4-0 win over Milbank in the semi-finals.
Football/Basketball: Huether to Coach at Hitchcock-Tulare
Iroquois football and boys basketball coach Kenny Huether will take on similar duties at Hitchcock-Tulare. Meanwhile, Iroquois quickly moved to name Marv McCune as football coach, but is still seeking a replacement for the boys basketball position.
Huether fashioned a football record of 53-17 and a 120-53 record in boys basketball. His football teams won regional titles in 2006 and 2007, while his basketball teams took district titles in 2001 and 2007.
Basketball: All-Stars Set to Battle in Yankton
Top players from Nebraska and South Dakota are set to meet for the 20th time in their annual high school all-star basketball border battle. The event is set for Laddie Cimpl Gymnasium on the Mount Marty College campus in Yankton on Saturday, June 14.
The girls’ all-star game will be played at 3 p.m. and the boys will tip off at 5 p.m.
Among the South Dakota stars taking part in the event will be the state’s all-time leading scorer, Louie Krogman of White River, along with Nathan Jacobson of St. Thomas More and Christian McGee of Red Cloud.
The all-star game will also be the last Yankton appearance for hometown boy Colton Iverson. The 6-foot-9 All-Stater is bound for the University of Minnesota in the fall.
On the girls’ side, South Dakota standouts will include Alexis Yackley of Sully Buttes, Amber Wollschlager of Milbank, Ellyce Youngren of Brookings and Vanessa Johnson of West Central. All four have committed to NCAA Division I programs for next fall, including Yackley at Iowa State and Wollschlager at Drake.
South Dakota coaches for the event will be Eldon Marshall of White River and Brian Norberg of Watertown for the boys’ team, and West Central’s Joe Caffrey and Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s Kent Kolsrud for the girls’ squad.
Wrestling: St. Thomas More Hires Former Spearfish Coach
St. Thomas More High School in Rapid City is hiring former Spearfish wrestling coach Nick Durham as its new coach in the sport. Durham takes over for Bo Seacrest, who leaves South Dakota for a new job in Washington State.
Durham was head coach in Spearfish for three years, coaching one state champion, a second-place finisher, and four other place finishers at the state meet.
“We are fortunate to be able to hire Nick as our wrestling coach,” STM activities director Craig Nowotny told the Rapid City Journal. “I look forward to working with him and watching him build our wrestling program into a successful program that fits in with our vision here at St. Thomas More.”
