Top-seeded Harrisburg baseball upset by Watertown in Class A quarters
· Yahoo Sports
The top seed in the SDHSBA Class A state tournament only lasted seven innings, with No. 1 Harrisburg losing 4-3 to No. 8 Watertown. It's the second straight year Harrisburg has been the top seed, and the second straight year the Tigers took on the Arrows in the first game.
Harrisburg got the tying run on third base with two outs in the seventh after Gavin Weir advanced to third on a Bryson Esser single. Watertown was playing its outfield back but Weir didn't look to go first to third. Watertown center fielder Markus Pitkin bobbled the ball, allowing Weir to make it to third regardless.
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That set up Noah Rutten, who grounded out against Watertown pitcher Jackson McClemans to end the game.
Harrisburg lost without ace Kade Wede throwing a pitch. Wede played first base and went 0-for-3 at the plate.
Harrisburg head coach Tony Lanier opted for Grady Wolbrink on the bump, who rewarded him with six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter with four strikeouts.
"As a coaching staff we sat on it all week, thinking it out," Lanier said. "We were thinking there's a lot of arms that we trust, and if we save Wede for that semifinal round then I'd really like our odds of getting to that championship game. Granted, you have to get there for it to matter, and it didn't work in our favor tonight."
Nick Riley threw the seventh inning, giving up one hit.
Watertown never scored more than one run in an inning, pushing one across in the first, third, fourth and sixth. The run in the sixth came just after Harrisburg tied the game at three in the bottom of the fifth on a Rutten single to plate Collin Wright.
The Tigers only managed six hits and two walks in the game. Watertown started Hunter Halajian tossed 6.2 innings, using his junkball style from the left side to throw off the Harrisburg hitters. He punched out eight batters in the process.
"Baseball is a humbling game, you just try to tell them that," Lanier said. "All we can ask for is you put a ball hard in play. Some guy can miss a play or a ball is going to go over his head. That's just baseball for you."
Harrisburg pushed across its first two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run double from Treydon Hofer. Hofer also threw out two base stealers behind the plate.
Esser went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, Rutten went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run, Hofer was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Wright singled and scored, Jaxson Roesler singled and Weir walked twice.
Harrisburg ends its season with a 12-5 record in South Dakota Class A play, and a 14-11-1 overall record. Lanier said he was told before the season that this could be a tough year after so many players graduated in 2025. His guys didn't buy into that and worked to be a versatile team for their first-year head coach.
"It's been a real learning experience and I told them wholeheartedly that I thank them for everything that they've done," Lanier said. "Coming into next year, it's making sure we get all the little things. Baserunning is something I preached at the beginning of the year. This game we ran the bases well, but stealing bases and putting the pressure on just wasn't quite there."
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Harrisburg baseball upset by Watertown in Class A state quarterfinals