Category Archives: Sports

The Winner/Colome amateur baseball team fell to Larchwood, Iowa, in the opening round of the state amateur baseball tournament in Sioux Falls.

The Pheasants were defeated 10-4. Larchwood had 10 runs in the final four innings.

“We had a good season,” Winner/Colome coach Kevin Graesser told the Mitchell Daily Republic.

“We come out of a really good district as champs and we thought we were playing really good ball. But give them credit, they had a good pitching staff,” said Graesser.

The first five innings was scoreless with Connor Hopkins pitching for the Pheasants.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Austin Calhoon and Geno Katz hit back to back RBI singles, Lakin Negebauer laid down a sacrifice bunt and Kelly O’Bryan had an RBI single for a 4-2 lead. It was Winner/Colome’s last run of the day.

The Pheasants loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 8^th inning but they could not get a run across. Larchwood added four more runs in the top of the 9^th inning.

Offensively, Zach Harter was 4-5, Reed Harter had two hits including a triple.

Several golfers took part in the Winner Regional Foundation golf tournament held Aug. 4 at Winner Country Club.

Winners of the first flight were Justin and Kara Zeigler, Brandon and Karley Arizmendis

Second place in this flight went to Larry Aaker, Brett Gardner, Jessica Calhoon, Austin Calhoon

Champions of the second flight were Keith, Kari and Lynn DeMers and Chuck Keiser.

Second place in this flight went to Rick and Deb Godel, Terami Nespor and Michelle Lovejoy.

Winning the third flight were Stormy, Melissa and Ryder Halligan and Ty VandenHoek.

Second place went to Jason and Tovi Bartels, Jamie and Kevin Keiser.

Justin Zeigler was the champion of the Benson Haley Gant golf meet held Aug. 5 at the Winner Country Club. This tournament was a one-man scramble.

Second place in the championship flight went to Derris Buus with Mike Cahoy taking third and Nick Larson, fourth.

Winner of the first flight was Mike Hammer. Other placers were Bill Benedict, 2^nd; Austin Hammer, 3^rd and Tim Gant, 4^th.

Second flight winner was Frikkie. Second place went to Mike Dreyer. Also placing were Buck Jedlicki, 3^rd and Bob Benson, 4^th.

Tanner Best and Izac Nespor won the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce golf tournament on Friday. They shot a 32.

Second place in the championship flight went to Ryan Radant and Rick Godel, 33 and third to Cody Haiar and Jason Beehler, 35.

The first flight winner was Bob Benson and Tim Gant, 40. Second went to Lisa Halverson and Rusty Arthur, 41 and Jason and Jonah Sachtjen took third with a 42.

Chad Peterson and Peggy Heilman won the second flight with a 46. Second went to Aric and Katie Craven with a 47 and third to Madi Engel and Brandon Hauf, 48.

Alexis Richey of Winner was chosen as one of the top 40 volleyball players in the state to compete in Sioux Falls on Sunday at the Pentagon.

She was selected as one of nine liberos in the state.

Richey will be a senior at Winner High School.

Career honors for Richey include two time Big Dakota Conference, two time Big Dakota all tournament, two time SESD all tournament, 2017 Class A all state, Winner record holder for career digs and season digs.

The Future 40 Elite Camp was hosted by Adrenaline Fundraising and is meant to showcase some of the top high school players in the state on the same court at the same time.

This is the first of its kind school event and the mission is to give the top players a chance to compete with and against each one another regardless of class or geography.

The event is also a chance to help promote and grow the sport of volleyball in South Dakota.

The Future 40 was determined from coach nominations during the 2017 season. All nominees were debated and voted on by a board of South Dakota high school coaches from all three classes and all parts of the state.

Adrenaline Fundraising is the nation’s top sports fundraising company and South Dakota’s top fundraising option for high school volleyball programs.

In the past seven years, Adrenaline has grown to help over 50 high school programs in South Dakota.

The Winner/Colome amateur baseball team defeated Alexandria 12-5 to win the District 5B title on Friday in Platte.

The Pheasants (20-2) exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning.

“We played well and it should give us momentum going into the state tournament,” said coach Kevin Graesser.

It was a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state’s polls.

Alexandria took a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Alexandria pitcher hit Winner/Colome batters Derek Graesser and Reed Harter then walked Austin Richey to load the bases. Two batters later, Austin Calhoon put the Pheasants in front with a single that scored two and Dillon Lambley hit an RBI single.

Back to back RBI singles from Harter and Graesser pushed the Winner/Colome lead to 8-1 and Graesser would later score on an error.

Calhoon hit a two run homer in the 9^th inning.

Connor Hopkines was the winning pitcher. He had 12 strikeouts in seven innings.

Tarrell Bauld pitched the final two innings.

This game was backed up by a rain delay and then in the 8^th inning heavy fog delayed the game for over half an hour. The game finished at 12:30 a.m.

Winner/Colome will play in the state tournament in Sioux Falls at Ronken Field on the campus of Augustana University. The Pheasants will play Larchwood at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2.

Winner will be the host of the state Class B Junior Legion baseball tournament Aug. 3-5.

Leahy Bowl will be the sight of the state tournament which will draw visitors from across the state to Winner. City crews have been working hard to prepare the field for the state tourney.

The first round pairings on Aug. 3 include:
10 a.m.—Mission vs. Lennox
12:30—Redfield vs. Wessington Springs
2:45—Warner/Ipswich/Northwestern (WIN) vs. Clark
5:30—Claremont/Britton vs. Groton
7:45—Winner vs the winner of the Mission and Lennox game
The opening ceremony will be at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Games will continue 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The championship game will be played at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5.
A coaches meeting will be at 9 a.m. Friday at Leahy Bowl.
Last year Winner won the consolation championship.

This is the second year for a Junior Legion state tournament.

“We’ve had a pretty successful season up to this point,” said Winner coach Kory Foss.

“We started really fast out of the gates and rattled off a bunch of wins and I think maybe got complacent at times after that, which resulted in a bit of a skid as we hit mid-season. It’s true we played some tougher competition, but we kind of got away from some of the things we did really well early in the year – like throwing strikes and playing good defense – and that cost us some games we probably should have had,” said Foss

“Baseball is a game of streaks, and we learned that this summer. I think this last week or two the kids have started to find their step again and are feeling good heading towards state,” explained the coach.

Fred Whiting is the leading hitter- batting .500 on the year with 30 hits and and 33 RBI’s. Oscar Pravecek is hitting .403 with 27 hits and 19 RBI’s and has only struck out 5 times in 88 plate appearances. Kameron Meiners is batting .387 with 24 hits and 17 RBI’s. Joren Bruun is at .369 with 24 hits, Phil Jorgensen is hitting .361 with 26 hits and Cobly Kaiser is batting .338 with 25 hits and 2 home runs.

Kameron Meiners has thrown the most innings this season at 41.1. He’s 3-4 with an ERA of 2.03. Joren Bruun has thrown 38 innings and is 4-3 with an ERA of 2.76. He has struck out a team-high 38 batters. Jacob Beckers has pitched 21 innings and is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.67. Evan Farner is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.16 in 18 innings of work. Aaron Gilchrist is 2-1 in 8 appearances including 3 starts.

“It’s a pretty cool experience to be part of a state tournament on your own field and the kids are excited about it. The summer season can be a grind at times, but each game has been in preparation to get us ready for this tournament. Yes wins and losses count, but what really matters is what we take from each of them that will benefit us come state,” said Foss

“The competition at this year’s tournament is going to be top-notch, as it is with any state tournament. There may not be as many Jr. Legion teams in South Dakota as Teener teams, but I think Jr. Legion possess some of the strongest programs,” said the coach

“We drew the winner of the Lennox/Mission game. We have already faced Mission this summer, and know from club baseball that Lennox is one of the best teams in the state with some really good athletes.

Groton, Clark, and Redfield are all in the field and are traditionally strong programs. Other teams like W.I.N. (Warner, Ipswhich, Northwestern), Wessington Springs, and Claremont/Britton can come in and play just as well. It’s just a matter of which team is prepared and can execute.” said Foss.

He added: “Baseball is a funny sport, and if you don’t come in ready to hit the ground running you’re going to be heading home early. I believe if we play like we are capable of on offense and defense, and our pitchers come in and throw strikes, we will have a chance come Aug. 5 to do something special. This is a great group of kids, and this is a fitting way to finish what has been a fun season,” said Foss.

Winner Junior Legion took two games from Mission in double header July 23 in Winner.

In the first game, Winner won 12-0 with Jacob Beckers throwing a no hitter in four innings. The game was shortened due to the 10 run rule.

On offense, Joren Bruun waIs 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. Tyler Olson was 2-3 and drove in a run while Bosten Morehart added a hit and 2 RBIs.

In the second game, Winner defeated Mission 11-1 in five innings.

Fred Whiting led the way on offense going 3-3 with 2 RBIs. Oscar Pravecek and Kameron Meiners each added two hits. Landon Thieman drove in three runs.

Bruun started on the hill and went four innings giving up one run on three hits. Meiners worked a perfect inning in relief.

“We had a good night at the plate and on the mound and it showed in the final box score,” said coach Kory Foss. “In game 1, Jacob Beckers threw a great game completing our second no hitter in the last two weeks (Evan Farner had one against Brandon Valley). We worked quick and threw strikes and that’s what you have to do,” said the coach.

“Our bats came around in game 1 and it’s just one of those things where hitting is contagious and it continued all night. Hopefully, it gives the kids some confidence going into the stretch,” Foss said.

Winner Junior Legion baseball team traveled to Northville Friday to play W.I.N. (Warner-Ipswhich-Northwestern) and Wessington Springs.

Winner won the first game game 1 vs. W.I.N. 12-0. The game ended in the 6th inning due to the run rule.
Oscar Pravecek was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s. Kameron Meiners was 2 for 4 with an RBI as well. Five other players had at least 1 run driven in.
Kameron Meiners threw a complete game shut-out, allowing 4 hits while striking out 7.

Winner also won game 2 vs. Wessington Springs 13-3. The game ended after 6 innings due to the run rule.
Zach Bohnet was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s. Aaron Gilchrist was 2 for 2 with 2 RBI’s. Adam Cole and Kameron Meiners each added 2 RBI’s as well.
Joren Bruun started on the mound and went 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits while striking out 4. Evan Farner threw the rest of the game, not allowing a hit and striking out 1.

“The kids played two really good games today to finish up our regular season. I think both W.I.N. and Wessington Springs are solid teams, we just played well today – at the plate, on the mound, and on defense. It’s nice to end the regular season with two games like this to gain some momentum heading towards the state tournament next weekend. Kameron threw a great game against a good W.I.N line-up, and our offense made the most of their pitchers mistakes. In the second game against Wessington Springs our hitters really clicked. The thing I was most encouraged about was how well the bottom our order did. Our 6-9 guys had a big game, which always a good sign. I think the kids are ready for next weekend. We’ve spent all summer preparing for it and I believe we’re playing our best ball when it’s most important. I’m excited to see what the state tourney brings for us,” said coach Kory Foss.

Winner finish the regular season 19-10. The first round game at state will be Friday night at 7:45 pm against the winner of the Mission/Lennox game. The state junior Legion tournament is being held in Winner at Leahy Bowl Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Winner Junior Teeners played in the consolation championship of the Class B state tournament Sunday afternoon in Gregory.

Canova defeated Winner 16-6.

Winner Junior Teeners stayed in the game with Canova pulling away late as they scored 10 runs in the sixth inning.

Despite the loss, Winner collected eight hits.

The Winner team started things going early as Charley Pravecek grounded out scoring one run.

Pierce Nelson started on the pitcher’s mound for Winner. Aiden Barfuss and Coy Brickman also pitched.

Ashton Klein, Barfuss and Nelson had multiple hits for Winner.

Winner opened play in the state tournament Friday afternoon as they took on Wessington Springs.

Winner lost the game 6-2.

Winner scored runs in the first and fifth innings.

Justin Hausmann pitched for Winner as he completed three and two thirds innings. Ethan Bartels, Pierce Nelson and Aiden Barfuss came in the game in relief.

Adam Bohnet was 2-4 with a double.

On Saturday, Winner got things rolling with a 14-3 win over Garretson.

Winner scored four runs each in the second and fourth innings.

Winner Junior Teeners big bats were Bartels, Klein and Silas Chasing Hawk.

At the plate, Bohnet was 3-5 along with Barfuss.

Nelson was 3-4, Charley Pravecek, 3-4; Bartels, 2-5; Klein, 3-5; Duffy, 1-2; Michael Olson, 2-4; Chasing Hawk, 1-4.

Gregory won the state tournament with a win over Alexandria.

Winner/Colome amateur baseball team defeated Dimock/Emery 11-1 in seven innings Sunday in Platte.

For the Pheasants, Kelly O’Bryan had two doubles, a triple, and drove in six runs. Reed Harter added three hits, two triples and two RBIs.

J. J. Farner earned the win pitching all seven innings, striking out seven batters and allowing five hits.

Winner/Colome will play Alexandria at 8 p.m. on Friday in the District 5B title game.

The Winner/Colome amateur team shut out Wagner 15-0 Thursday in Platte.

Connor Hopkins logged 12 strikeouts and allowed just one hit.

The Pheasants broke the game open with a seven run third inning. Reed Harter was 3-3 while Austin Richey had a double and Austin Calhoon had 2 hits.