Amateur baseball primer: Sunshine League powers set for race to watch
May 22MITCHELL Mother's Day weekend marked the unofficial first pitch of the amateur baseball regular season, getting an early start to the summer baseball slate.For the next 10 weeks, ballparks across the state will come to life as clubs begin their annual quest toward the state tournament, which returns to Cadwell Park this year, August 5-16.Here's a league-by-league breakdown of the action from 2025 as a new amateur baseball season enters full swing:Picking up where the 2025 season left off, the Parkston Rays are the defending Class B amateur baseball champions, having rallied to take down the Hartford/Humbolt Gamecocks 10-8 in the title tilt last August.The Rays club not only made its state tournament debut in its third year but completed a five-game run over 11 days by dispatching three league winners from the Cornbelt, Pony Hills and Sunshine, plus two more Cornbelt foes.Pitcher Jake Helleloid was named the tournament MVP for the Rays, capping a dominant campaign on the mound that saw the powerful right-hander post an 8-0 record over 16 appearances with nine starts. Across 79 1/3 innings, Helleloid had a 1.235 earned-run average, .170 batting average against and 129 strikeouts.After winning the District 5B title, Alexandria made a run all the way to the state tournament semifinals before running into the Rays. Along the way, the Angels took out a fellow Sunshine squad in the Parkston Mudcats in the second round and Cornbelt rival Canova in the quarterfinals.In an early-season showdown of heavyweights between the Rays and Angels, Parkston emerged with an 11-10 victory in 13 innings on Thursday night.The Parkston Mudcats, Platte and Winner/Colome were the remaining Sunshine representation at the state tournament. Platte, the 2024 tournament runner-up, returned to the quarterfinals, and the Mudcats won their first-round game. Winner/Colome, which topped the regular-season Sunshine standings, fell in a matchup with a fellow perennial power, the Dell Rapids Mudcats, in the opening round, ending a streak of six-straight trips to the quarterfinal round or later for the Pheasants.Corsica came up short against the Parkston Mudcats in the District 5B last-chance game, as Dimock/Emery and Mount Vernon also missed out on the state tournament.Notably, the Mitchell Aces are not fielding a club this season. The Aces, who competed in Class A for the postseason, were created in 2024 and joined the Sunshine League ahead of the 2025 season.The Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks came up just short of a state title, falling to the Parkston Rays in the championship game last August. It snapped a spree of four consecutive state championships won by Cornbelt squads.Nevertheless, the Cornbelt was well represented deep in the bracket, with three teams in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row and at least one team in the semifinal round for the eighth state tournament in a row.Madison surged to win the District 4B title over the 2024 state tournament champions, Dell Rapids PBR. However, the Broncos were less fortunate in the state bracket, drawing the eventual champion Parkston Rays in the first round.PBR won its first-round game but was another casualty of the Parkston Rays' championship run. The club is out to a 2-0 start in the league this season.Along with the runner-up Gamecocks, the Cornbelt had quarterfinalists in the Dell Rapids Mudcats and Canova. Along with Madison, the Flandreau Cardinals and Flandreau Blue Teal qualified for the tournament field but were bounced in the opening round.Salem, Colman and the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks did not make it out of the district tournament last year. Early standings published by KJAM radio out of Madison indicate Colman is not fielding a team this season, replaced by the Baltic River Dawgs, formerly of Class A and the Sioux Empire League.Tabor won the District 6B tournament for a second year in a row, marking the Bluebirds' 22nd consecutive state tournament qualification. Unfortunately for the league champs, they came across the H/H Gamecocks in the second round.Freeman also reached the second round, but the Blacksox were eliminated in one of the wildest contests of the tournament, a 10-inning affair against the Dell Rapids Mudcats that ended 15-10.The South Central was shut out of the quarterfinals and beyond, as the other state tournament qualifiers, Crofton (Neb.) and Wynot (Neb.), failed to get out of the first round.Among the Class B contingent in the South Central, Menno, Irene and Lesterville were the squads left home in August.Last season held a sense of deja vu for Kimball/White Lake. For the second year in a row, the Nationals topped the Pony Hills in the regular season, doubled down by defeating Burke in the district tournament title game and carried their run through to the state quarterfinals. KWL was ultimately beaten by the Parkston Rays, whom the Nationals had beaten during the regular season.Burke, Plankinton and Wessington Springs all made first-round exits from the state tournament bracket, while Four Corners snuck into the second round before being knocked out.Chamberlain, Colome and the Winner Demons did not reach the state tournament last season.
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