Trojans, Royals secure top seeds in regional high school baseball tournaments

Though complete brackets have yet to be finalized by the South Dakota High School Baseball Association, several Mitchell-area programs have already locked up top seeds in the Class B regional tournaments, which are set for next week.

Regions 1B, 3B and 4B are scheduled to play their regional qualifiers on Tuesday, May 20. (This story will be updated at mitchellrepublic.com when all the matchups are finalized.)

For the first time in program history, Parkston/Ethan (13-1) will host a spring baseball regional, as the Trojans earned the No. 1 seed in Region 1B. Parkston opens against No. 8 seed Scotland/Menno (7-7) at 3 p.m. Tuesday, and No. 4 Dakota Valley (8-4) will play No. 5 Canistota/Freeman/Marion (7-4) at 5 p.m., with the winners to square off at 7 p.m. for a state tournament berth. Meanwhile, Elk Point Jefferson (9-2) is the No. 2 seed and the other host in the region. Bon Homme (5-6) is the No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 Vermillion (12-3) in the first round on that side of the bracket.

In Region 4B, Winner/Colome (13-0) has laid claim to the No. 1 seed. The Royals will host a four-team bracket on Tuesday, May 20 at Leahy Bowl in Winner. Though the other seven qualifiers from the region are known, the order is not. Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake (7-4), Gregory County (5-6) and Chamberlain/Kimball/Lyman (4-7) are among the Region 4B teams to be placed in the bracket.

Hanson/Bridgewater-Emery (9-3) slotted in as the No. 2 seed in Region 3B, only behind defending state champion Dell Rapids (18-1). The Bulldogs will host a three-game bracket starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday, in Alexandria, while Dell Rapids will host the other four teams in Region 3B. Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney (7-5) is also in line to be seeded in the region, with its site and bracket to be announced.

Region 2B will decide its state tournament bids on Wednesday, May 21. Madison/Chester (9-1) and Warner/Ipswich/Northwestern (9-1) are the top two seeds. Howard (5-4), last year’s state runner-up, is the No. 4 seed in the region and will play Groton Area in the first round at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Each region will send two teams to the Class B state tournament, one each from a four-team bracket in region tournament play. The eight remaining teams will be reseeded prior to the start of the state tournament, which will take place May 26-27 at Bob Shelden Field in Brookings.

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