Clark-Willow Lake, fresh off a runner-up finish in the Class B State High School Baseball Tournament this spring, leads area teams heading into this summer’s American Legion baseball.
The Dinosaurs went into regional action as the sixth seed, qualified for the state tournament as the eighth seed and then made a major run as an underdog. They knocked off the top seeded West Central Trojans 4-2 in round one, shut out PGWL 1-0 in the semifinals, and fell to Madison-Chester 8-2 in the championship.
“We are feeling pretty confident after finishing the high school season strong,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Chris Bokinskie. “We look to continue to build off that success and keep playing fundamental baseball.”
Groton fell just short of the state tournament, falling to the eventual state champs by just one run in the final round of the regional tourney. Under a new helm, Groton looks to veteran leadership to take them back to the state tournament.
“I feel pretty good about the summer season. We return a lot of players from last year’s team. Being my first year coaching, it helps to have the veterans on the team to make the transition easier,” said new Groton coach Pat Krause. “My son has played with these guys over the years, so I have a little bit of familiarity with them. Our pitching is going to be our strength. We have five or six guys that can pitch and be effective.”
Groton will field a very similar team as it did in the spring, with the notable addition of one key player, a super senior who will make a major impact in the lineup.
“Carter Simon is able to come back for his final legion season, where he wasn’t on the spring high school season, since he graduated last year. He is a big part of our offense,” Krause said. “He was the Big Stick winner at last year’s State B Legion tournament.”
Groton also returns a strong pitching rotation that’ll look to use multiple arms to find success. Nealy all of the pitchers are coming back after a strong showing last season that helped the Tigers advance to the state tournament.
“Our pitchers are going to be very important. Jarrett Erdmann, Gavin Englund, Nick Groeblinghoff, T.C. Schuster, and Alex Abeln,” Krause said. “These guys can all start and come in relief and be effective.”
On the flip side, CWL will lose a couple kids that were on its spring roster. Although the numbers are down, they have a roster that will all contribute in some way.
“We lose a couple of kids from the high school season, but I am confident we have kids that will step into the roles nicely. They have been with the program for years and now baseball is their priority sport for the summer,” Bokinskie said. “We have a team full of kids that can have a breakout night at any time, whether it be at the plate or on the mound. It’s a group that feeds off each other’s energy and is looking forward to having a successful year on the diamond.”
Multiple other area teams will also look to make an impact on the big stage as well. Milbank looks to get back to the state tournament after hosting it last year at its new field. The squad fell to Clark in the region tournament in the spring by just one run after a solid spring campaign.
Redfield is always in the mix, and has a strong baseball tradition. Sisseton, which lost just one regular-season game this spring, has had a strong start to the summer season going 5-3, losing to Groton twice by one run both times. Warner-Ipswich-Northwestern also owns wins over Redfield and Groton to start the season and features an experienced lineup.
