5 DRS teams to compete in State Tournament
Five Dakota-Rice-Scott League teams will compete in the 2017 State Amateur Baseball Tournament, which will begin Friday, Aug. 18, at Green Isle, Hamburg and Norwood.
The tournament will be held over three weekends and is scheduled to conclude on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4, with championship games in Class B and Class C.
The Union Hill Bulldogs, Faribault Lakers, New Prague Orioles and New Market Muskies are the four teams representing the DRS in the Class C Tournament. The Elko Express is competing in the Class B Tournament.
The complete Class C bracket can be found on the facing page. The Class B first round pairings are found later in this story.
DRS teams summaries
Union Hill Bulldogs Managed by John Masberg, the Bulldogs won the Region 3C championship, defeating Faribault 5-0 in the final game of the double-elimination tournament. This will be the 15th trip to state for Union Hill, and their first since 2013. The Bulldogs’ best showing as a second place finish in 2006. As the region champion, the Bulldogs receive a first round bye and will play in the second round. They will play either Milroy or Henderson at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. in Hamburg.
Faribault Lakers This is Faribault’s third trip to state since joining the DRS league. The team is managed by Charlie Lichtenberg The other two game in 2014 and 2015. The Lakers, who were the regular season DRS champions, open the tournament Saturday, Aug. 19, at 1 p.m. against Gibbon. That game will be played in Green Isle.
New Prague Orioles This is the Oriole’s 15th trip to state. The team has not been to the state tournament since 2013. Manager Jerry Plambeck’s team will take on Watkins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug .18, in Norwood.
New Market Muskies New Market makes its sixth trip to the State Tournament and third in the past four years under manager Todd Bergstrom after missing a trip last year. The Muskies will face Dumont at noon on Sunday, Aug. 20, in Hamburg.
Elko Express The Express are making their 15th trip to state, and their first since 2014. They are managed by Hall-of-Famer Terry Fredrickson. Elko was the Class C champions in 2009 and this is their third appearance as a Class B team, the last being in 2014. The Class B Tournament is a 16-team tournament, with the eight first round winners advancing to a double-elimination format. Elko’s first round opponent is Brooklyn Park, and the teams will play at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at Norwood.
