There will be at least one new state softball champion this season after defending State B champion Chester was edged by Avon on Tuesday in SoDak 16 action.
Area teams that punched their tickets to the State B tournament next week include Castlewood, Deuel, Florence-Henry and Mobridge-Pollock.
Both the Class A and Class B tourneys will take place June 5-7 at Players South Complex in Aberdeen. The Class AA state tourney will be in Sioux Falls.
Here is a look at the Class B SoDak 16 box scores for area teams followed by the opening round pairings for all three state tournaments:
Class B SoDak 16 scores
McCook Central-Montrose 000 000 1 – 1 2 3
Florence-Henry 021 010 x – 4 5 3
Zaidee Huls and Mya Morrison; Elizabeth Reiter and Ashlynn Vavruska. 2B – Florence-Henry, Brooke Hlavacek. HR – Florence-Henry, Kaylee Vavruska.
Mobridge-Pollock 103 111 0 – 7 12 0
Hanson 000 020 0 – 2 5 3
Grace Overland and Amber Vetch; Olivia Kayser and Jozlynn Tegethoff. 2B – Mobridge-Pollock, Jacy Netterville 2; Hanson. Jacey Schoenrock, Kayser. 3B – Mobridge-Pollock, Vetch.
Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy 000 002 0 – 2 1 3
Deuel 102 020 x – 5 8 1
Harli Ross, Isabel Waltner (5) and Claire Loofbourrow; Katrina Hagberg and Elle Holden. 3B – Deuel, Hagberg.
Note: Hagberg had 17 strikeouts.
Redfield 031 504 1 – 14 14 2
Castlewood 2(12)1 102 x – 18 17 7
Makayla Schulz and Katryn Evans; Claire Horn and Lilly Jacobsen. 2B – Castelwood, Jacobsen 3, Cyndi Kudrna 2, Sophia Kudrna 2. 3B – Redfield, Charli Jungwirth, Ella Rude-Peterson; Castlewood, S. Kudrna. HR – Redfield, Mady Morrissette.
Note: Jacobsen and Bridgette Horn each drove in five runs for Castlewood.
State AA Pairings
8 Sioux Falls Roosevelt (14-10) vs. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln (19-2), 10 a.m.
5 Brandon Valley (14-4) vs. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson (17-3), Noon
10 O’Gorman (7-10) vs. 2 Harrisburg (17-2), 2 p.m.
6 Rapid City Stevens or 11 Tea Area vs. 3 Sioux Falls Washington (16-2), 4 p.m.
State A Pairings
8 Vermillion (7-9) vs. 1 West Central (18-3), 10 a.m.
5 Sioux Valley (16-5) vs. 4 Dell Rapids (11-3), Noon
7 Elk Point-Jefferson (8-8) vs. 2 Tri-Valley (12-2), 2 p.m.
6 Madison (12-6) vs. 3 Dakota Valley (15-5), 4 p.m.
State B Pairings
8 Avon (15-10) vs. 1 Deuel (19-2), 10 a.m.
5 Florence-Henry (16-3) vs. 4 Alcester-Hudson (16-3), Noon
7 Mobridge-Pollock (11-5) vs. 2 Bon Homme (12-3), 2 p.m.
6 Gayville-Volin (15-4) vs. 3 Castlewood (15-4), 4 p.m.