What to know for Sunday’s Class B state amateur baseball title game between Canova and Lesterville – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — Only two teams remain in the running for small-town amateur baseball’s top prize in 2023.

Canova and Lesterville locked up their berths in Sunday’s championship with thrilling victories on Saturday night. Sunday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Mitchell, although it will take place after the Class A championship contest, meaning the expected start time will be in the area of 2:30 p.m. or as late as 3 p.m.

Ahead of Championship Sunday at Cadwell Park, here’s some facts to know about this year’s Class B title game:

• The Gang will play in its 15th state championship game all-time. The Gang have state championships in 1966, 1971, 1979, 2009 and 2018, and last appeared in the title game in 2020. 
• The 2023 tournament marks the fourth time in the last six seasons that Canova has made the Class B semifinals or championship round. 
• Cole Gassman leads the Gang in hitting in the tournament with a 7-for-14 mark (.500) and six RBIs. Kendall Gassman has a team-best six runs scored and is 4-for-9 in the tournament (.444). Garrett Gassman is 7-for-16 (.438) at the plate in the tournament. 
• As a pitching staff, Canova has allowed 12 earned runs in four games, with an ERA of 2.54. Kendall Gassman, Trey Krier, Tyler Earls and Derek Miller have been the winning pitchers, with Justin Miller earning a save against Clark. 
• This is the fourth consecutive Class B state championship game to feature a Cornbelt League team, with the Dell Rapids Mudcats winning in 2021 and 2022. Canova was in the 2020 championship game against Alexandria, which was won 11-3 by the Angels.  

• Lesterville’s last title came in 1950, a 5-4 win over Conde in Watertown. That was only the 18th state championship awarded in state history and in the era with only one state champion. 
• The Broncs have won three games by one run in their state title chase to date, and have come from behind in all four tournament games. 
• Lesterville has held opponents to .228 hitting in the state tournament, with a collective ERA of 1.64. Brandon Nickolite, Derek Quame, Alex Wagner and Ethan Wishon each have pitching wins, with Nickolite also adding a save. 
• Michael Drotzmann has hit .471 and driven in eight runs for the Broncs in the state tournament, while Cameron Schlitz has hit .429. Tanner VanDriel leads the team in runs scored with six. 
• It is the South Central League’s first appearance in a state championship game since 2014, when Wynot won the state title over Alexandria. 
• Lesterville did not make the 2022 Class B state tournament. Ironically, they are trying to become the first team since Canova in 2018 to win a Class B state championship after missing the state tournament in the prior season. 

• Canova (pop. 89) and Lesterville (pop. 115) were the two smallest incorporated South Dakota towns represented in this year’s Class B state tournament. 
• Based on the documented state championship game history, it’s the smallest combined population between two South Dakota teams in a title game since 1950 with Lesterville and Conde, which both have less than 150 residents now. In 1950, Conde had 409 residents, while Lesterville had 192. 
• Going out of state, Wynot, Nebraska — current population of 217 — and Canova played for the 1999 championship with a combined population of less than 400 people at the time.

Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. He’s worked for the newspaper since 2014 and has covered a wide variety of topics. He can be reached at mtraxler@mitchellrepublic.com.