Menno is a quiet town, but Thursday night had some noise. Parkston Post 194 is heading back to the big show. Again. For the third straight year, they booked a ticket to the Class B American Legion state tournament, dispatching Platte/Geddes Post 115 in a 6-2 regional championship victory. It wasn’t particularly close.
They went 3-0. Clean sweep. Now, Madison awaits them from July 31 to August 4.
Parkston struck first. They didn’t waste time. In the opening frame, Grady Bowar ripped an RBI single to bring Mason Jervik home. Just like that, 1-0. Platte/Geddes answered in the second, scraping together a run to tie it up, but the deadlock didn’t last. Post 194 reclaimed the lead in the third. Then came the fifth. That is where the wheels fell off for the WhiteCaps. Parkston hung three runs on the board, pushing the lead to 5-1 and leaving Platte/Geddes gasping for air.
A late run in the sixth gave the WhiteCaps a flicker of hope. Parkston snuffed it out. A sacrifice fly in the seventh added a cheap insurance run, sealing the 6-2 final.
Kash Neugebauer did the heavy lifting on the mound. Six innings. Three hits. Two runs. Efficient. Johnny Weber came on in the seventh to slam the door, securing the crown. Parkston outhit Platte/Geddes eight to three, while the WhiteCaps hurt themselves with two errors. Hudson Fuhrer took the start for Platte/Geddes, but the box score remained thin on further details. Typical.
