Northeastern and north central South Dakota’s high school baseball and softball teams are certainly shooting for a successful finish to their 2026 season.
Postseason play has arrived or will shortly for area teams playing in the South Dakota High School Baseball Association, with the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s softball teams set to follow suit.
A strong finish can turn an otherwise so-so season into a memorable one. That may be the case for the Watertown Arrows Post 17 baseball team, which swept home doubleheaders against O’Gorman on May 8 and Sioux Falls Washington on May 9 to secure the chance to host a best-of-three super region playoff series May 15-16 at Watertown Stadium.
Post 17 (11-7) is the No. 8 seed and will host ninth-seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln (16-11) in the series, which opens with Game 1 on Friday at 6 p.m. Game 2 is set for noon Saturday, with Game 3, if necessary, set for 2:30 p.m.
“This past weekend really showed what this team is capable of when we play to our potential,” Post 17 coach Ryan Neale said. “We knew coming into the weekend that all four wins were critical if we wanted to secure a home playoff series. For the boys to respond the way they did says a lot about the competitive fight this group has.”
Watertown leaders this spring include center fielder Markus Pitkin (.519 batting average with eight doubles, four triples and 18 RBIs), catcher Jonathan Lake (.390 average with six doubles, one homer and 21 RBIs), right fielder Jaxon Falak (.382 average) and left fielder Cole Hansen (.353 average with 28 runs scored). Shortstop Carter Buisker and second basemen Cain Everson and Olson each are hitting .333.
Top pitchers are Jackson McClemans (3-2 with a 0.55 earned-run average and 29 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings), Hunter Halajian (3-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 25 innings), Ashton Rabine (2-0 with a 0.65 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 11 innings) and Kooper Heiser (2-1 in 13 1/3 innings).
Watertown opened the season in April with two games, one of which was a 12-11 loss to Lincoln in a game the Arrows led 9-3 in the fifth inning.
“When you play a team again after that much time has passed, both teams are going to be much different,” Neale said. “We’ve learned a lot about ourselves over the last 15 games, and our guys understand when we have our 1-2 punch in Hunter and Clem on the mound, we’re going to be competitive and tough to beat in a three-game series.”
The series winner advances to the state Class A tournament May 22-23 at Augustana’s Ronken Field in Sioux Falls. Other playoff matchups include No. 16 Tea Area (5-22) at No. 1 Harrisburg (12-10-1), No. 15 SF Washington (10-7) at No. 2 Brandon Valley (20-6), No. 14 Spearfish (10-12) at No. 3 SF Jefferson (16-5), No. 13 Sturgis (10-7) at No. 4 Yankton (18-4), No. 12 Brookings (10-14-1) at No. 4 Rapid City Stevens (21-6-1), No. 11 Mitchell (12-11) at No. 6 Pierre (20-8) and No. 10 SF Roosevelt (9-15-1) at No. 7 O’Gorman (15-18).
The Aberdeen Smittys, coached by Watertown native and former Post 17 player Nathan Gonnelly, went 4-10 this spring and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Watertown Arrows softball
Watertown fell to 3-9 with an 11-1 home loss to Sioux Falls Roosevelt on May 12. The loss capped a busy stretch for the Arrows, which included a 9-2 loss to Spearfish, a 4-3 win over Sturgis on May 8 at Brookings, and a 14-1 home loss to Rapid City Stevens on May 9.
The Arrows have five regular-season games remaining before Class AA SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on May 26. Winners of those games advance to the state AA tourney June 4-6 at Augustana University’s Bowden Field in Sioux Falls.
“Our biggest challenge right now is finding the consistency with our energy and focus to stay in games from start to finish,” Watertown coach Kelli Brinka said. “When we bring those things every inning, we do the little things really well and can compete with just about anyone. It’s about finding that rhythm and being able to do it consistently.”
Senior Lauryn Hirsch and junior Alexa Brown have led the squad this spring. Brown is hitting .378 with three doubles and eight RBIs, and Hirsch is hitting .303 with four doubles, a triple, three homers, 12 runs scored, and eight RBIs. Freshman Leah Struckman is batting .300.
Hirsch (1-5 with a 5.91 ERA in 32 innings) and Brown (2-4 with a 4.07 ERA in 31 innings) also have handled nearly all of the pitching duties for a young Arrow squad.
“We have five games left against some really good teams, so every inning and every opportunity matters for us right now,” Brinka said. “It’s a chance for us to continue growing, clean some things up and prove what we’re capable of.”
Coach Cassidy Neer’s Aberdeen Central team fell to 2-15 with a 16-1 loss to O’Gorman on May 12. The Golden Eagles, who have three regular-season games remaining, are currently the No. 17 seed in Class AA. Only the top 16 qualify for the playoffs.
Area Class B baseball
Through Wednesday, May 13, seven area teams are in position to qualify for North Super Region games on May 20 (expected to be at Madison and Sisseton). Two teams will advance to the state B tournament May 25-26 at Brookings.
District 1 and 2 area teams currently in position to qualify for the North Super Region include Sisseton-Britton-Webster (14-1), Groton Area (6-10), Clark Area (8-6), Redfield Area (6-10), W.I.N. (7-7), Milbank (8-4), Sioux Valley-Estelline-Arlington (8-7).
Area Class A & B softball
Through Wednesday, May 13, two area Class A and six area Class B teams are in position to earn berths in SoDak 16 state-qualifying games scheduled for May 26. Winners of those games qualify for state tournaments June 4-6 at the Players Softball Complex in Aberdeen.
Sioux Valley (17-3) is currently the No. 4 seed and Milbank (7-7) the No. 11 seed in Class A.
Castlewood (13-4) is No.1, defending state champion Deuel (12-4) No. 3, Florence-Henry (11-4) No. 11, Clark-Willow Lake (10-6) No. 12, Redfield (8-6) No. 13 and Arlington (5-4) No. 16 in Class B.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Area high school baseball and softball season update
