Palace City youth baseball state roundup for July 25: PCB 14U swipes two wins heading into bracket play

Jul. 26—PIERRE, S.D. — After a slow start to the Class A state baseball tournament, Palace City's 14-and-under team rebounded in impressive fashion Saturday at Kelley Field, collecting a pair of victories to punch its ticket into bracket play on Sunday.

Following an 11-0 loss to Harrisburg in Friday's pool play opener, in which Palace City was held to just four hits, PCB responded by defeating Rapid City Post 320 10-6 before closing pool play with a convincing 7-1 victory over Watertown. The two wins improved Palace City's pool play record to 2-1 and sent the team into Sunday's single-elimination state bracket after entering the tournament on a five-game losing streak.

PCB (16-27-1) earned the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Tea at 10:30 a.m. at Hyde Stadium in Pierre. If Palace City wins, it will play top-seeded Harrisburg at 1 p.m. at Hyde Stadium with the championship game set for 3:30 p.m.

Palace City seized control early against Rapid City Post 320, scoring the game's first eight runs while taking advantage of eight defensive errors to build a comfortable lead and cruise to the victory. Keniel Padilla and Deyton Puetz paced the offense with two hits and two RBIs each. Micah Bennett and Isaac Fischer each added a hit and an RBI, as Palace City finished with enough timely offense to hold off a late charge from Post 320.

Preston Maeschen tossed a complete game to earn the pitching victory, working all seven innings. He surrendered nine hits and six runs while striking out two batters and walking three.

Palace City carried that momentum into its second game of the day, pounding out 10 hits in a dominant 7-1 victory over Watertown. Padilla starred on both sides of the ball, throwing a complete-game four-hitter while allowing just one run over seven innings. He struck out three batters and walked two to keep Watertown's offense in check throughout the contest.

At the plate, Meade Schlimgen led the offensive attack with three hits and scored twice. Padilla helped his own cause with two hits and a run scored, while Maeschen drove in two runs with a hit. Puetz also contributed an RBI single as Palace City steadily pulled away.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Palace City baseball's 13-and-under team closed out its inaugural season over the weekend at the Class A state baseball tournament at Bob Shelden Field, finishing 1-2 in pool play to end the year with a 7-38 overall record.

Palace City opened tournament play Friday with a 16-4 loss to Watertown before falling 12-2 to Harrisburg Black on Saturday. The squad bounced back in its final game of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating Renner Post 307, 15-5, to earn its lone victory of the weekend. The 1-2 pool play finish left Palace City out of Sunday's Class A state bracket play.

After the two teams battled through the opening innings, Palace City broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning to turn an already slim lead into a commanding 13-5 advantage against Renner. Huntley Hillman delivered the biggest hit of the rally with a two-run triple, while Blake Russell and Ayden Vaneverdingen each added RBI singles during the outburst.

Palace City pounded out 17 hits compared to Renner's nine. Vaneverdingen finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Russell also collected three hits and drove in a run. Ben Raml, Radley Maeschen and Boston Bates each contributed two hits, and Hillman drove in a game-high three RBIs. Tayzen Fernau tossed all five innings on the mound, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out two batters and walking two to earn the complete-game victory.

Earlier Saturday, Harrisburg Black raced to a 9-1 lead after two innings and limited Palace City to just three hits in a 12-2 victory in four innings. Hunter Gades recorded two of the team's three hits, while Asher Kaus added the other hit and drove in both Palace City runs.

On Friday, Watertown controlled the pool-play opener from the start, taking advantage of nine Palace City walks for the game to score 12 runs over the first two innings on the way to a 16-4, four-inning win. Kaleb Byrd had a hit and an RBI, while Kaus finished with a hit and scored twice.

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