Softball Diamond Report for April 15: Hanson starts out at 6-2 with big offensive efforts

Apr. 15—ALEXANDRIA, S.D. — Comebacks happen all the time in high school softball.

Hanson High School might be hard pressed to pull off another rally like they did on Monday, April 13 at home to defeat Class B rival Viborg-Hurley in a 22-17 victory.

The two teams were in lock step for the first five innings, tied at 3-3, 6-6 and finally at 9-9. That's when the Cougars put up eight runs to build a 17-9 lead in the top half of the sixth inning. The Beavers then promptly answered with 13 runs of their own in the sixth to go back ahead 22-17.

Then, the Beavers got a mostly painless three outs in the seventh inning, allowing two hits but no runs to close the door. The two teams combined for 34 hits, eight errors, 11 extra-base hits and 14 walks.

That victory puts Hanson at 6-2 so far in the early portion of the high school softball season, and the Beavers have scored 20 or more runs three times this season. They had 23 runs over high school softball newcomer Bridgewater-Emery on March 30, 20 runs over Ethan/Parkston and 22 runs against Viborg-Hurley.

Hanson is averaging 12.8 runs per game and won 11-1 at Mount Vernon/Plankinton on Tuesday.

Along those lines, Hanson already has some impressive early offensive numbers, led by Jozlynn Tegethoff, who is hitting .684 so far this season. In the first seven games, she was 13-for-19 with seven extra-base hits, 10 RBIs and 16 runs scored, plus five stolen bases. NeeCee Suber and Jacey Schoenrock each have 11 RBIs to their name and Suber and Skya White each have 13 runs scored. As a team, the Beavers are hitting .405 with a .541 on-base percentage.

Hanson plays at undefeated and 5-0 Gayville-Volin on April 20, before hosting Groton Area in a true doubleheader on April 21 in Alexandria.

A look at the top softball performers from around the Mitchell region, through games played April 14.

* In its first season of high school softball, Bridgewater-Emery made program history on April 9, earning its first win with a 14-9 victory over Canton in Emery. Jozee Sehnert had four RBIs for the Huskies and Kenze Glover was the winning pitcher for B-E, throwing seven innings and striking out eight and allowing one walk.

* Avon has had a strong start to the season at 5-2 and Brielle Voigt is red-hot with the bat so far in 2026. She is hitting .706 (12-for-17) with a slugging percentage of 1.235 and an OPS of 2.018, with one home run and 17 RBIs. Teammate Rilyn Thury is hitting .636 (14-for-22) and has scored 10 runs and driven in eight RBIs.

* Isabel Waltner pitched a four-inning no-hitter on Monday, April 13 for Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy in a 15-0 win at Bridgewater-Emery. Waltner posted 15 strikeouts and had eight punchouts, dotting 41 of her 63 pitches for strikes. The Huskies only had runners reach on two walks and a Phoenix error.

* That was FMFA's first win of the season and it came after Avon defeated FMFA 24-19 in Freeman on April 6. Even with 43 runs scored, that's not the state's highest scoring game so far. Alcester-Hudson defeated Colman-Egan 31-21 on April 9 in Alcester, as Colman-Egan was up 13-7 after three innings only to give up 14 runs to the Cubs in the fifth inning and seven more in the sixth. That game had 25 combined hits and 10 combined errors. A-H's Delta Pies had four hits and four RBIs, including a home run in the win.

* McCook Central/Montrose has a 2-1 start to the season, following a 15-0 win over Chester on April 10 and a 16-1 win over Howard on April 13. Ashtyn DeKnikker had a home run and drove in five runs between the two games, while Ella DeKnikker was 4-for-4 with three doubles and three runs scored against Howard. Zaidee Huls was the winning pitcher in both games for MCM.

* Scotland/Menno's Kylie Guthmiller has been tough to stop on both sides of the batter-pitcher matchup so far, helping the Trappers to a 6-3 start. Guthmiller has 78 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched so far, plus she is hitting .538 with two home runs, 17 RBIs and 15 runs scored on offense.

* It has been a slow start for Mitchell-area Class A teams in the early going of the season. Mount Vernon/Plankinton has the best record at 2-2, while Chamberlain is 2-3 and Wagner is 1-4.

* The C-Hawks are worth a note, although it's been a tough run for Canton since starting its softball program in 2023. The Hawks were a combined 0-30 in their first two seasons, did not play a varsity schedule in 2025 and now are 0-3 to start 2026, leaving them still looking for a varsity win as a softball program.

* Two teams remain undefeated early in Class A softball, with Tri-Valley at 5-0 and Lennox at 3-0. Sioux Valley is 5-1, Dakota Valley is 4-1 and Elk Point-Jefferson and Madison are both 3-1.

* Four teams in Class B are undefeated so far, led by Gayville-Volin at 5-0, Flandreau at 4-0, Redfield at 3-0 and Florence/Henry is 2-0.