Softball - SDPB State Championship Coverage

SDPB's Nate Wek shares what to expect with high school softball's second year of sanctioned play and what softball's success could mean for high school baseball.

In its second year of a sanctioned sport in South Dakota, high school softball is showing more schools and more kids participating. Last season there were ultimately 47 teams who competed in the inaugural season, and this year is showing more teams competing in all three classes.

Brookings Bobcats head softball coach Emma Hardin is more than just your typical coach. Deep down, she probably understands the current game more than most. From growing up in Brookings, playing for one of the best club teams in state history, and to being a DI pitcher, you could say she was the perfect person for the job.

Castlewood is celebrating a state softball title this week as the Warriors topped Alcester-Hudson in the ‘B’ title game on Saturday night in Aberdeen. For Castlewood, it was ultimately a clutch at bat by Lyndsey Archer that put the Warriors up late in the contest.

Local college coaches give their input about the positive direction softball is making in South Dakota.

He was once the all-time winningest boy's basketball coach in South Dakota. He spent 34 years coaching at Parker High School. Gayle Hoover joins Craig Mattick on this edition of In Play.

SDPB’s Jackson Dircks sat down with SDPB Sports and Rec Reporter Nate Wek to talk about the Burckhard sisters - two very well-known women in the South Dakota women's basketball sphere currently coaching and playing for Aberdeen Central.