Team busy with tournament, several games last week
Matt Larson & Contributors | BSMSN
Beresford won the Watchdog Classic Tournament they hosted May 17. This year’s event was a four-team competition, due to last minute cancellations by four teams. Last year, the tournament was played in Sioux Falls at the Sanford Diamonds because the fields in Beresford were unplayable due to weather.
It was great to be able to play this year on the new Beresford softball fields, said Coach Matt Storo. This year’s tournament included Dakota Valley, Avon, Beresford, and Centerville.
In the tournament, the Watchdogs earned wins over Avon and Dakota Valley to become the 2025 champions.
Beresford 15
Avon 6
Eight early runs were enough for Beresford to get a victory over the Avon Pirates in the Watchdogs’ first game of the day. They scored five times in the bottom of the first and three more in the second for an 8-0 lead. Avon scored two times in the top of the third, but the Watchdogs added three more in the third and four in the fourth for a 15-2 lead. The Pirates did score four times in the top of the fifth before the game came to an end.
Brynlee Mohning had four hits and three RBIs in the game. Ivy Keiser added three hits with four RBIs. Keely Merrigan added two hits, one of them a double. Kennedy Merrigan and Lily Seivert both had a single with an RBI. Tavyn Valder also had a hit. Rylie Laurvick pitched five innings and allowed six runs, two earned, on nine hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
Beresford 10
Dakota Valley 8
The Watchdogs came from behind two times to get a 10-8 win over the Dakota Valley Panthers in their second game. The Panthers scored four runs in the top of the first and another in the top of the second for a 5-0 lead. Beresford rallied for five runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game 5-5. Dakota Valley went back in front, 7-5, with two runs in the top of the third. The Watchdogs had their second five-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to go in front for the first time, 10-7. Dakota Valley plated just one run in the top of the fifth as Beresford hung on to the win.
Keely Merrigan had two hits and three RBIs. Seivert finished with a single and two RBIs. Reese Olson, Valder, and Harley Koth all had a hit and an RBI. Keiser and Capri Mullinix both had a single. Mohning pitched five innings and allowed eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Softball splits games on back-to-back days May 12 and 13
The Beresford Watchdog softball team played on back-to-back days on Monday, May 12 and Tuesday, May 13. They hosted the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix on Monday and traveled to Yankton on Tuesday.
Beresford 19
Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy 9
The Watchdogs built an early lead and then had a big inning to help them to a win over the Phoenix. Beresford scored two in the bottom of the first, four in the second, and four more in the third for a 10-0 lead. The Phoenix had a big nine-run inning in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 10-9. The Watchdogs responded with a nine-run bottom of the fourth to go back in front by ten, 19-9. The game ended on the 10-run rule when the Phoenix went scoreless in the top of the fifth.
Keely Merrigan had three hits, two of them doubles, and three RBIs. Kennedy Merrigan had three hits, one a triple, and two RBIs. Tavyn Valder added three singles with two RBIs. Reese Olson had a hit and two RBIs. Brynlee Mohning, Lily Seivert, and Rylie Laurvick all had a hit with an RBI. Harley Koth and Ashlynn Olson had a single each, and Capri Mullinix had an RBI. Mohning pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs, seven earned on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Laurvick pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed a hit with two strikeouts.
Yankton 15
Beresford 3
The Gazelles scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning and three more in the third to take an early 9-0 lead. Beresford scored a run in the top of the fourth, but Yankton added six more in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 15-1. The Watchdogs got two more runs in the top of the fifth, but the game ended on the 10-run rule.
Kennedy Merrigan had a triple with two RBIs. R. Olson, Mohning, and Seivert all had one hit each. Kate Degen added an RBI. Laurvick pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed six runs, four earned, on two hits and two walks with a strikeout. Mohning threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed nine runs, five earned, on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.