The Baltic 17U baseball team took third place at the 2026 South Dakota VFW Varsity Bravo State Tournament held in Britton on Friday, July 17th through Sunday, July 19th. Baltic finished 3-2 overall during the weekend tournament.
Baltic 16, Leola-Frederick 1
In the first game of pool play on Friday, Baltic scored in every inning and rolled to a 16-1 win over Leola-Frederick. They scored six runs in the top of the first, another in the top of the second, and nine more in the top of the third. Leola-Frederick scored a run in the bottom of the third without a hit.
Isaac Oakley had two hits, one a double, and an RBI. Brechen Fredrick had two hits with an RBI. Elias Oakley ended with a triple and three RBIs. Jackson Goehring added a double with three RBIs. Laken Kortemeyer had a single and an RBI, and Paxton Fuhrer had an RBI. Bodhi Giedd pitched two innings and allowed one walk. Cale Roach tossed an inning and allowed an unearned run on two walks.
Baltic 13, Kimball/White Lake 5
Baltic overcame a five-run deficit by scoring 13 straight runs in their second pool play game. Kimball/White Lake scored five times in the top of the first. Baltic scored two in the bottom of the first. They took the lead, 8-5, with six runs in the bottom of the second. Baltic’s offense kept rolling scoring three more runs in the bottom of the third and two in the fourth.
Gavin Skotvold had three hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. E. Oakley had two doubles and a single with an RBI. I. Oakley had a single and double with three RBIs. Goehring added two hits and an RBI. Fredrick ended with a single and an RBI. Roach also had a single. Kortemeyer pitched five innings and allowed an unearned run on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts to earn the win.
Selby 11, Baltic 4
Despite scoring in four of the five innings, Baltic fell to Selby in the final pool play game on Saturday. Selby scored three times right away in the top of the first. Baltic countered with a run in the bottom of the first. Selby would add four more runs in the top of the second for a 7-1 lead. Baltic scored a single run in the second, third, and fourth innings to make the score 7-4. Selby scored four runs in the top of the fifth to secure the win.
Fredrick had a double and single with two RBIs. Goehring also had a double and single with one RBI. Roach had two singles. I. Oakley and Brody Hansen each had a double. Fuhrer ended with an RBI.
Britton 4, Baltic 3
Britton overcame a deficit in the opening round of bracket play to take a 4-3 win over Baltic on Saturday. Goehring and I. Oakley had back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the first inning to give Baltic a 2-0 lead. Fredrick had an RBI single in the top of the second to make the score 3-0. Britton picked up two runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-3. They would take the lead, 4-3, with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Fredrick and I. Oakley both had two hits and an RBI each. Goehring had a single with an RBI. E. Oakley finished with a double. E. Oakley also pitched six innings and allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits and six walks with 12 strikeouts.
Baltic 6, Gregory 5
In the 3rd/4th place game on Sunday, Baltic scored two late runs to get a 6-5 win over Gregory. Baltic scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Each team would score two runs in the third inning, and Baltic led 4-2. Gregory took the lead, 5-4, with a three-run fourth inning. Giedd had a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, 5-5. With a runner on second and one out, Skotvold hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the seventh for a the 6-5 win.
Goehring had two hits, one a double, and two RBIs. Skotvold added a double with an RBI. Fuhrer and Giedd each had a single and an RBI. Fredrick and Roach each had a single. I. Oakley ended with an RBI.
