CLARK – It took a little extra work, but Clark-Willow Lake came through in the clutch to punch its ticket to the American Legion State B Baseball Tournament. CWL ended up winning one region game in extra innings, and then won the championship in walk-off fashion.

The squad enters the state tourney with a 16-6 record and plenty of experience at the state level.

“We got a group of kids who’ve been to several state tournaments growing up; 14U, Junior

Legion tournaments,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Chris Bokinskie. “We knew we had a pretty good team, we knew we had a chance. And everything just kind of lined up for us to start playing well as a team and come out of the region winning three straight games.”

The players of the Clark-Willow Lake team put in the extra effort throughout the season to get to where they are now, even asking Bokinskie to fill up their schedule with more games.

“We had a group of players this year who wanted to be challenged a little more. They wanted to practice more. There were times where we had lulls in games and stuff due to scheduling,” said Bokinskie. “I was trying to pick up extra games because they were begging me to find someone to play. And at times it didn’t work, but we did pick up an extra game or two along the way.”

Going into the tournament, the CWL squad will continue to rely on pitching.

“Right now, our pitchers have really carried our team. We have several pitchers, I think three to be exact, that are throwing with an ERA under 2.00,” Bokinskie said. “They’re really going out and they’re giving us a chance to win every time they’re on the mound.”

Bokinskie talked about that trio of pitchers who will be counted on during the tourney.

“Josh Kannegieter has thrown very well for us. Josh is a tall, lanky kid. Throws fairly hard, and got very good offspeed stuff. … Watson Grantham obviously is throwing very well for us. He’s another one with a low ERA throwing a lot of innings for us,” Bokinskie said. “Cooper (Pommer) is mainly a relief guy. Doesn’t throw hard, but he goes out will just pinpoint accuracy. Dominate the zone. Got decent off-speed pitch or two that he’ll mix in. Same thing, if I need a guy to come in and throw strikes, Cooper’s the guy.”

Offensively, Clark-Willow Lake can produce big numbers, but consistency has been an issue.

“Our bats are streaky. It’s like if we get a couple guys to hit, it gets very contagious for us,” said Bokinskie. “Having consistent bats is definitely our need for improvement. I told the kids that there’s eight teams left in the state. You’re gonna see good pitching every game. That’s just how it works from here on out. You gotta go up there and when you get a good pitch to hit, you gotta hit it and put it in play.”

Like with pitching, three individuals stand out at the plate for the squad.

“Jakob Steen is in the middle of our lineup. He’s been a little off, he’s tweaked his stance a little bit to try to get back in rhythm. And it started to play out over the last couple games hitting line drives, hitting the ball hard,” said Bokinskie. “We have Jack Helkenn and Tyson Huber both in the middle of the lineup as well. Two super seniors that were able to come back and play for us and it looks like they lifted some weights in the offseason. They’re hitting the ball hard right now.”

Unlike most teams in the tournament field, Clark-Willow Lake has already seen its first-round opponent. It took on Dell Rapids a few weeks ago in a game that ended in a CWL 1-0 loss dominated by pitching.

“We host a really good Legion tournament in Clark that our rotary club puts on and we challenge ourselves in that tournament. We played Dell Rapids in that tournament. They were in our pool. They beat us 1-0,” Bokinskie said. “And I think at that moment, the kids knew even though we had lost, we had a competitive team and we would be able to put it together and hopefully get back to the state tournament.”

With already having faced the 2024 State B champs recently, Bokinskie kind of has an idea of what his team will see during the opening game of the state tourney at 10 this morning.

“I think we feel pretty confident. Obviously, expecting to see their ace again. I think they kind of run with a 1A and a 1B between (Drake) Eastman and Tad (Tjaden) down there. Tad shut us down in the Rotary Tournament,” Bokinskie said. “If they come at us with him again, seeing him once I think will help. We’ve been exposed to him. If they go with Eastman, obviously he throws a little harder but at least it’s right-handed.”

Clark-Willow Lake used the past week to prepare for all scenarios.

“We’ve practiced the last couple of days, and really just try to get mentally prepared more than anything, to make sure we don’t get psyched out,” Bokinskie said. “That’s one thing we’ve preached all year; mental preparedness. When you’re playing a team like Dell Rapids that everyone knows about, it’s easy to get psyched out.”

The defending state champs will be among the teams to beat once again this year.

“I think Dell Rapids is probably the favorite. Any time they’re in the state tournament, people know it. (Coach) Danny Miller’s built a heck of a program down there. They’re competing every year,” Bokinskie said. “As far as a favorite, I think it’s tough to pick one, but you can never count Rapids out.”