The Dell Rapids Little League held their annual 12U baseball tournament on Friday, May 29th through Sunday, May 31st on diamonds A, B, E, and F. This year 12 teams from around the area participated in the tournament: Dell Rapids ERC, Dell Rapids T&C, Dell Rapids Jody’s Collision, Hills-Beaver Creek Red, Hills-Beaver Creek Blue, Crooks Stangs, Brookings Pizza Ranch, Brookings CF Promo, Brookings Century 21, Brookings Superior Homes, Brookings First Bank & Trust, and Brookings Dakota Abstract & Title.
“This tournament is a great way for teams to get a chance to play other teams they don’t see on a regular basis in their leagues. This year was a fantastic tournament…all the teams seemed to be pretty evenly matched. Most of our games were decided by just a couple of runs, and I think if not all the teams won a game this weekend, a large majority of them did,” said Dell Rapids Little League President Matt Larson.
This year’s tournament was divided into four pools of three teams each. Each team played the other two teams in their pool during games on Friday and Saturday, and then the each team was given an additional game on Sunday. The four pool winners competed in a championship round to determine the champion of the tournament.
“We had a lot of excitement all weekend long. At any given time during the weekend, there were cheers erupting from at least one diamond if not more. That’s what it’s all about for us. We love seeing and hearing kids getting exciting about the game. Our board members heard on many occasions from coaches all weekend that not only were the kids exciting about playing, but the coaches themselves learned that some of their players could play different positions than what they normally play when they were asked to do so. That’s another reason we love hosting this tournament,” Larson said.
Superior Homes from Brookings emerged as the 2015 champion after defeating the Crooks Stangs in the final game on Sunday afternoon.
Larson also added, “I want to thank all the volunteers who gave their time to help make this tournament a success. Not only did we luck out with weather this year, but we had so many helpers to make the tournament run smooth. We had folks who worked on preparing fields before games, worked in the concession stand, organized all the umpire assignments, donated home-made goodies or hot dogs….all those things help make this tournament a success. A lot of these things may go unnoticed, but our board appreciates every bit of help. The Dell Rapids Little League community steps up year after year from the players, to parents, to coaches and board members to make sure we put on the very best tournament we can, and I can’t thank them enough.”