District amateur baseball tournaments get underway this week

Jul. 21—It's time to start punching tickets to Cadwell Park.

The Class B state amateur baseball tournament is Aug. 4-15 in Mitchell and teams will start securing berths this week in district play. There are 32 total spots up for grabs in the single-elimination state tourney.

Here's a quick rundown of area teams in their district-qualifying tournaments:

District 3B

When/where: Friday-through-July 30 in Chamberlain and Four Corners. The July 24-25 games are at Four Corners, while the July 26-30 contests are in Chamberlain.

Defending champion: Plankinton Bankers.

Outlook: The Plankinton Bankers and Kimball/White Lake Nationals share league-best marks of 15-1, while they split regular-season meetings this season. KWL edged the Bankers (1-0) on July 18 and Plankinton won 6-3 on June 10.

The Bankers, who are gunning for their fifth consecutive district title, are the No. 1 seed. They will play the Chamberlain vs. Wessington Springs winner 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Four Corners. No. 2 Kimball/White Lake plays No. 7 Miller/Wessington at 10 a.m. Saturday at Four Corners.

No. 3 South Central (10-6), No. 4 Four Corners (10-6) and No. 5 Colome (8-8) all sport respectable league records and will be top contenders for state-tournament bids.

District 4B

When/where: Friday-through-July 31 in Colman.

Defending champion: Flandreau.

Outlook: Perennial power Canova earned the top seed with a 16-2 league record, while the Dell Rapids Mudcats (14-4) is the No. 2 seed. The Mudcats and Salem handed Canova its two league losses this season.

Canova, last year's state runner-ups, will open district play against the No. 8 Salem vs. No. 9 Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks winner at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Mudcats play the No. 7 Colman vs. No. 10 Madison winner at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

After the Gang and Mudcats, it was a logjam of teams in the final standings. Lennox (11-7), Gamecocks (10-8), Flandreau (9-9) and Dell Rapids PBR (7-11) are third-through-sixth, respectively.

District 5B

When/where: Thursday-through-July 30 in Alexandria.

Defending champion: Alexandria.

Outlook: Alexandria earned the No. 1 seed with a 10-2 league record, making it the sixth straight season it has won at least a share of the league title. The Angels, who have won five state championships in the past six seasons, will play the No. 4 Mount Vernon (7-5) vs. No. 5 Dimock-Emery (5-7) winner at 5 p.m. Sunday in Alexandria. Mount Vernon handed Alexandria one of its two league losses on June 3 in Mount Vernon. Corsica-Stickney also defeated the Angels on July 15.

Platte (8-4) and Winner/Colome (8-4) are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively. Platte plays No. 7 Parkston (2-10) at 6 p.m. Friday, while Winner/Colome plays No. 6 Corsica-Stickney (2-10) to follow.

District 6B

When/where: Thursday-through-July 31 in Tabor.

Defending champion: Crofton, Neb.

Outlook: Crofton secured the No. 1 seed in the district tourney with a 10-6 mark in league play. The Bluejays, who have made 12 straight state tournaments, will play the No. 4 Tabor (6-10) and No. 5 Freeman (6-10) winner at 6 p.m. Thursday.

No. 3 Lesterville (7-9) plays No. 6 Irene (5-11) at 6 p.m., while No. 2 Wynot (8-8) plays No. 7 Menno (3-13) to follow in Friday's first-round action.

District tournament schedule/pairings

District 3B

July 23 at Chamberlain

G1: No. 8 Chamberlain vs. No. 9 Wessington Springs, 8 p.m.

July 24 at Four Corners

G2: No. 2 Kimball/White Lake vs. No. 7 Miller/Wessington, 10 a.m.

G3: No. 3 South Central vs. No. 6 Plankinton Gold Sox, noon

G4: No. 4 Four Corners vs. No. 5 Chamberlain, 2:30 p.m.

G5: No. 1 Plankinton Bankers vs. Game 1 winner, 4:30 p.m.

July 25 at Four Corners

G6: G1 loser vs. G2 loser, 10 a.m.

G7: G4 loser vs. G5 loser, noon

G8: G2 winner vs. G3 winner, 2:30 p.m.

G9: G4 winner vs. G5 winner, 4:30 p.m.

July 26 at Chamberlain

G10: G6 winner vs. G3 loser, 8 p.m.

July 27 at Chamberlain

G11: G7 winner vs. G8 loser, 8 p.m.

July 28 at Chamberlain

G12: G9 loser vs. G10 winner, 8 p.m.

July 29 at Chamberlain

G13: G8 winner vs. G9 winner, 8 p.m.

July 30 at Chamberlain

G14: G11 loser vs. G12 loser, 8 p.m.

District 4B

At Colman

First round

July 23

G1: No. 9 H/H Wood Ducks vs. No. 8 Salem, 6 p.m.

G2: No. 10 Madison vs. No. 7 Colman, 8 p.m.

July 24

G3: No. 6 Dell Rapids PBR vs. No. 3 Lennox, noon.

G4: No. 5 Flandreau vs. No. 4 H/H Gamecocks, 2:30 p.m.

G5: G1 winner vs. No. 1 Canova, 5 p.m.

G6: G2 winner vs. No. 2 Dell Rapids Mudcats, 7:30 p.m.

Elimination round

July 25

G7: G1 loser vs. G3 loser, 4:30 p.m.

G8: G2 loser vs. G4 loser, 7 p.m.

Semifinals

July 27

G9: G4 winner vs. G5 winner, 6 p.m. (winner to state)

G10: G3 winner vs. G6 winner, 8 p.m. (winner to state)

July 28

G11: G7 winner vs. G6 loser, 6 p.m.

G12: G8 winner vs. G5 loser, 8 p.m.

July 29

G13: G11 winner vs. G9 loser, 6 p.m. (winner to state)

G14: G12 winner vs. G10 loser, 8 p.m. (winner to state)

July 30

G15: G11 loser vs. G14 loser, 2 p.m. (winner to state)

G16: G12 loser vs. G13 loser, 4:30 p.m. (winner to state)

July 31

G17: G15 loser vs. G16 loser, 4 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)

G18: Championship (G9 winner vs. G10 winner), 6:30 p.m.

District 5B

At Alexandria

First round

July 22

G1: No. 5 Dimock/Emery vs. No. 4 Mount Vernon, 7:30 p.m.

July 23

G2: No. 7 Parkston vs. No. 2 Platte, 6 p.m.

G3: No. 6 Corsica/Stickney vs. No. 3 Winner/Colome, 8 p.m.

Semifinals

July 25

G4: G1 winner vs. No. 1 Alexandria, 5 p.m. (winner to state)

G5: G2 winner vs. G3 winner, 7 p.m. (winner to state)

July 27

G6: G2 loser vs. G3 loser, 7:30 p.m. (loser out)

July 29

G7: G1 loser vs. G5 loser, 6 p.m. (winner to state)

G8: G6 winner vs. G4 loser, 8 p.m. (winner to state)

July 30

G9: G7 loser vs. G8 loser, 6 p.m. (loser out, winner to state)

G10: Championship (G4 vs. G5 winners), 8 p.m.

District 6B

At Tabor

First round

Thursday, July 22

G1: No. 5 Freeman vs. No. 4 Tabor, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, July 23

G2: No. 6 Irene vs. No. 3 Lesterville, 6 p.m.

G3: No. 7 Menno vs. No. 2 Wynot (Neb.), 8 p.m.

Sunday, July 25

G4: Lowest-seeded first-round loser vs. middle-seeded first-round loser, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Tuesday, July 27

G5: Tabor/Freeman winner vs. No. 1 Crofton (Neb.), 6 p.m. (winner to state)

G6: Lesterville/Irene winner vs. Wynot/Menno winner, 8 p.m. (winner to state)

Thursday, July 29

G7: Highest-seeded first-round loser vs. G6 loser, 6 p.m. (winner to state)

G8: G4 winner vs. G8 loser, 8 p.m. (winner to state)

Saturday, July 31

G9: G7 loser vs. G8 loser, 5 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)

G10: Championship (G5 and G5 winners), 7 p.m.

LEGION

Class A state tournament

At Brandon

Opening round

Friday, July 23

G1 — Sioux Falls East vs. Watertown, 11 a.m.

G2 — Sioux Falls West vs. Rapid City Post 22 — 1:30 PM

G3 — Renner Royals vs. Pierre, 5:30 p.m.

G4 — Brandon Valley vs. Harrisburg, 8 p.m.

Saturday, July 24

Elimination games

G5 — G1 loser vs. G3 loser, 11 a.m.

G6 — G2 loser vs. G4 loser, 1:30 p.m.

Winner's bracket

G7 — G1 winner vs. G3 winner, 5:30 p.m.

G8 — G2 winner vs. G4 winner, 8 p.m.

Sunday, July 25

Elimination games

G9 — G6 winner vs. G7 loser, noon

G10 — G5 winner vs. G8 loser, 2:30 p.m.

Winner's bracket

G11 — G7 winner vs. G8 winner, 5 p.m.

Monday, July 26

Elimination game

G12 — G9 or G10 winner vs. G11 loser — 5:30 p.m.

G13 — G9 or G10 winner vs. G11 winner — 8:00 p.m. (G9 or G10 winner eliminated with loss)

Tuesday, July 27

G14 — G12 winner vs. G13 winner — 4:00 p.m.

G15 — G12 winner vs. G13 winner — 30 minutes after G14 (if necessary)