Watertown High School's girls softball team opens with two wins in indoor triangular

Season-opening softball games for Watertown and Aberdeen Central and a couple of indoor track and field meets in the Barnett Center made up most of the high school schedule for area athletes March 25-31.

A snowstorm early in the week put a hold of some activities and could still affect any scheduled outdoor events in the coming week.

Here's some highlights from last week:

Softball

In a triangular at the Aberdeen Dome that was pushed back from Tuesday to Thursday, Watertown opened its season with 10-3 and 15-0 wins over Pierre and Aberdeen Central, respectively. Pierre topped Aberdeen Central 7-3 in the other game.

Alexa Brown fanned 10 batters in seven innings and also hit a double and a single for Watertown in the win over Pierre. Lily Pressler, Jade Lund, Alayna Dettman, Sarita Stevenson and Lauryn Hirsch also had two hits apiece. Hirsch smacked a triple and Stevenson a double. Hirsch and Dettman drove in two runs each.

Hirsch tossed a three-inning one-hitter and also drove in three runs in the win over Aberdeen. Kinsley Van Gilder drove in three runs with a double and a single, and Stevenson added a triple and three RBIs. Lund, who doubled, and Aleia Johnston each had two hits, and Pressler contributed a double.

"We had a great outing for out first games of the season," Watertown head coach Kelli Brinka said. "I'm really proud of how the girls came out aggressive and stayed aggressive. We made great plays in the field and consistently hit the ball hard at the plate."

For Aberdeen Central, Kaylee Kiesow clubbed two hits, and Addison Ward doubled against Pierre. Kylee Hoffman's single was the lone hit against Watertown.

Aberdeen Central is scheduled to host Mitchell and Sioux Falls Jefferson in triangular on Tuesday. Watertown heads West to face Rapid City Central on Friday and Spearfish on Saturday.

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Indoor Track

Northern State Open — Aberdeen Central got event wins from Gracie Rife (girls' 55 and 200-meter dashes), Madison Hochstetter (girls' 55 hurdles and high jump), Juna Ramey (girls' 1,600 run), Taryn Hermansen (girls' shot put), Breckan Santjer (girls' pole vault), Ciarra Frank (girls' long jump), Lucy Fritz (girls' triple jump), Carter Lust (boys' 55 dash), Caden Forred (boys' 200 dash), Grant Fritz (boys' 400 dash), David VanVeen (boys' 1,600 run), Kyson Fayant (boys' 55 hurdles), Evan Hauer (boys' shot put), Brendan Phillips (boys' high jump), Evan Sichmeller (boys' pole vault) and their 1,600 relay team in the meet.

Simon Fried of Mobridge-Pollock won the boys' long jump and Emma Schlachter of Potter County took the girls' 800 run. She also ran on the winning 1,600 relay.

Dewey Donat Classic — Watertown competed in the meet and got wins from Alayna Smith (55 dash), Andi Olson (800 run), Grace McElroy (1,600 run), Malia Kranz (shot put), Jordyn Padgett (pole vault), Makenna Blank (long jump) and Jalyssa Hutson (high jump) in the girls division.

Juven Hudson (55 dash), Bayley Steiner (1,600 run), Boaz Raderschadt (shot put), Owen Spartz (pole vault) and Jonas Geier (triple jump) won events for Watertown's boys.

Kaleb Foltz of Tri-State won the boys' 400 dash and 800 run.

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DWU Open — Florence-Henry's teams competed Thursday in the Dakota Wesleyan Open at Mitchell. Caylin Kelly finished eighth in the girls' shot put to lead the Falcons.

Complete results for all three meets can be found at www.athletic.net.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Area high school athletic highlights from March 25-31