Watertown, Aberdeen Central and others await first sanctioned softball season

Roger Merriam, Watertown Public Opinion
·5 min read
Senior Jada Brown is expected to be one of the main pitchers for sanctioned Watertown High School girls fastpitch softball, team this spring. The Arrows were scheduled to kick off their season Saturday with an indoor triangular at Aberdeen. The games were cancelled on Friday.
Senior Jada Brown is expected to be one of the main pitchers for sanctioned Watertown High School girls fastpitch softball, team this spring. The Arrows were scheduled to kick off their season Saturday with an indoor triangular at Aberdeen. The games were cancelled on Friday.

Nearly a quarter of century after Watertown started a high school club fastpitch softball program, Watertown High School will field a team sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Activities Association.

In the first year as sanctioned sport by the SDHSAA, forty-nine Class AA, A and B teams are ready to take the field and will after winter finally releases its hold on most of the state.

Watertown and Aberdeen Central were scheduled to open Saturday in a triangular at the Presenation College Dome but that event was postponed on Friday.

With plenty of snow yet to melt, stay tuned for further details when area teams will be able to get their seasons started.

"I'm just so excited that softball is finally a school sport," said Watertown head coach Kelli (Heiser) Brinka. "We can travel as a team and just get to say we are the Watertown Arrows softball team."

Here's an early look at Watertown's squad

The Arrows started playing club high school ball in 1999 and have enjoyed some success through the years in the sport, winning state titles in 2002 (Class A) and 2009 (Class AA). Brinka played a big role on the 2009 team, which went 6-1 in the one-day tournament. She pitched in all seven games and went 5-1 in 43 2/3 innings.

A number of the 2023 Arrows also played for the Watertown team that went 5-1 and won the South Dakota Varsity Falls High School Fastpitch Tournament last October.

Junior Kinsley Van Gilder is another player with plenty of fastpitch softball experience for the first-ever sanctioned Watertown High School softball team. Van Gilder is expected to pitch and play the outfield for the Arrows.
Junior Kinsley Van Gilder is another player with plenty of fastpitch softball experience for the first-ever sanctioned Watertown High School softball team. Van Gilder is expected to pitch and play the outfield for the Arrows.

Brinka is working with a 12-player varsity squad that includes senior pitcher-first baseman Jada Brown, senior catcher-third baseman Brooklyn Gronau, senior outfielder-shortstop Jaida Young, junior utility players Addy Huyvaert and Avery Palmquist, junior outfielder Neely Johnson, junior third baseman-pitcher Jade Lund, junior shortstop-outfielder Lily Pressler, junior outfielder-pitcher Kinsley Van Gilder, sophomore second baseman-third baseman Alayna Dettman, sophomore catcher-second baseman Kynslee Johnson and sophomore first baseman Aleia Johnston.

Most of the Arrows have fastpitch experience although Young, who played tennis is the fall instead of club softball, is out for the first time. Brinka says Young is so athletic that she is picking things up quickly.

Brown, Van Gilder and Lund will handle much of the pitching duties. Gronau also has plenty of mound experience but is needed behind the plate. Brown and Palmquist will handle first base, Pressler shortstop and Lund third base and Young, Van Gilder and Johnson the outfield with others filling in depending on who is on the mound. The second base position is still wide open.

"Just the number of girls we had go out was awesome. We had a way better turnout than I ever imagined and that's promising for the future of our program," said Brinka. "I just want the girls to have fun, learn new things and continue to grow as players."

The Arrows will also field a junior varsity team this spring that will be coached by Katie Strande. Elena Hoffman, herself a former club standout for Watertown, is offering her knowledge as a volunteer assistant.

What about Aberdeen and the other area teams?

Unlike Watertown, Aberdeen Central hasn't fielded a club fastpitch team all these years and will try to play catch up under head coach Cassidy Schaar, a former volunteer assistant at Northern State who spent the past two springs as an assistant at Presentation College.

Fifteen players are on the Golden Eagles' roster include senior infielder Jaci Cox; junior infielders Ayrlie Waldo and Laney Gonor; sophomore infielders Kaylee Efraimson and Maddy Galvin; sophomore pitchers Julia Knie, Kylee Hoffmann and Reese Comstock; sophomore catcher Addison Ward; freshmen infielders Avery Bendewald, Rachel Siefken Amelia Rife and Addyson Keller; freshman catcher Kaylee Dixon and freshman pitcher Kaylee Kiesow.

Area Class A teams include Milbank (coach Nancy Hoeke), Sisseton (coach Sara Lincoln) and Mobridge-Pollock (coach Andrew Overland); and Class B teams Arlington (coach DeDe Schmidt), Castlewood (coach Craig Horn) and Deuel (coach Sarah Hageberg).

Watertown High School head softball coach Kelli Brinka (right) speaks during the Watertown Arrows Softball Skills Camp that was held Sunday, March 12, 2023 in the Watertown High School Auxiliary Gym. The camp, for girls in grades K-4, was conducted Brinka, other staff and players.
Watertown High School head softball coach Kelli Brinka (right) speaks during the Watertown Arrows Softball Skills Camp that was held Sunday, March 12, 2023 in the Watertown High School Auxiliary Gym. The camp, for girls in grades K-4, was conducted Brinka, other staff and players.

Schedules and other things to know about the 2023 season

Deuel is scheduled to host Castlewood on Tuesday in a game that will likely be postponed. The scheduled openers for Arlington, Sisseton and Milbank are slated for mid-April so it's possible that field conditions will improve by then.

Watertown, which will play its home games at the Premier Softball Complex, is scheduled to host Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Tuesday in a game that will also likely be moved.

The Arrows, who will play most doubleheaders with one varsity and one junior varsity game, are also scheduled to visit Brookings (April 11), host Mitchell (April 13), host Sioux Falls Washington (April 18), visit Sioux Falls Roosevelt (April 20), host Yankton (April 25), visit O'Gorman (April 27), visit Sturgis (May 12), visit Rapid City Stevens (May 13), visit Brandon Valley (May 15) and host Harrisburg (May 18).

Aberdeen Central is slated to visit Mitchell (April 11), play Brookings (April 13), host Sioux Falls Roosevelt (April 18), visit SF Washington (April 20), play O'Gorman (April 25), visit Yankton (April 29), play SF Lincoln ( May 6), visit Rapid City Stevens (May 12), visit Sturgis (May 13), visit Harrisburg (May 16) and play Brandon Valley (May 18). Sites are yet to be determined for the Brookings, O'Gorman, Lincoln and Brandon Valley games.

The field of teams across the state include 16 in Class AA, 19 in Class A and 14 in Class B. All three classes will have SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on May 23. The winners advance to the state tournament June 1-3 at the Northern State University fields in Aberdeen.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Six other Class A and B schools to field teams this spring.