BRANDON — Canova is back in the state quarterfinals for the third straight season.

The Gang chipped away at the State Line League district champion Garretson Blue Jays to come away with a 6-1 win, clinching a spot in the quarterfinal round.

Canova, which narrowly avoided a round one elimination to Elk Point in a 10-7 victory in 11 innings, came out Sunday night as sharp as ever en route to a dominant win over a tough Blue Jays squad.

“We tend to step up in bigger games and this is a big game for us and that’s exactly what we did,” said Canova pitcher Derek Miller.

The nightcap started with an early Canova score. In the first inning, Jared Miller singled on a groundball to right field, scoring Riley Genzlinger from second base. The Gang wouldn’t score for another four innings, but manager/catcher Garrett Gassman felt confident with at-bats his team was putting up.

“There’s no giveaway at-bat in our lineup,” said Gassman. “Everybody 1-9 was working the count, forcing the issue. We were getting on base, had a lot of walks, lot of batsmen. When you get in those situations you got to take advantage of free baserunners.”

Kendall Gassman took advantage of a free baserunner in the fifth inning. After a one-out walk, Gassman would drive in Jared Miller, increasing the Gang’s lead to two. After a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth from starter Derek Miller, the Canova offense finally broke the game open.

A hit batter, a one-out walk and a two-out intentional walk of Jared Miller led to a four-run inning for Canova. Derek Miller reached on an infield error to score two while Garrett Gassman drove in another two runs on a single the very next batter.

“It’s the state tournament, a ball in play is better than a strikeout,” said Derek Miller. “I hit one to the pitcher, he tripped, we scored two runs on them. That’s state tournament baseball. You can’t strikeout, ball in play, and make guys make a play.”

Derek Miller’s pitching was also a key part in the Gang’s win by limiting a Blue Jays offense to just one run on eight hits and three walks in a complete game performance.

“We had three arms ready to go in the bullpen, trying to decide if we needed them,” Garrett Gassman said. “But Derek never gave me the reason. He did fantastic and you can’t say enough about a pitching performance like that.”

Canova Gang starting pitcher Derek Miller delivers a pitch in the third inning against the Garretson Blue Jays during the second round of the 2025 South Dakota State Amateur Baseball Tournament Sunday, August 10, 2025 in Brandon. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Garretson scored its only run of the game in the seventh on a Sam Siegel RBI single, but it wasn’t enough to mount a Blue Jays comeback.

“Even allowing one run, you’re never comfortable with an offense like them,” Derek Miller said of Garretson. “Especially with the hitters that they have. They’re a gritty team too and at times they hit the ball right to guys so we got lucky tonight at times.”

Canova, which only recorded five hits in the win, took advantage of six walks, four hit batters and four errors to generate a bulk of the offense. While the Gang didn’t score a ton of runs, the lineup showed the ability to make opposing pitchers work to find outs.

“We battled. We saw a lot of pitches, we made them work,” Derek Miller said. “Even when we did strike out we had good at-bats and that’s all you can ask for this time of year is having good at-bats.”

Garretson’s starting pitcher Dylan Kindt did his best to throw off the veteran Canova lineup. The young southpaw allowed just two runs on two hits and four walks in five innings of his start, striking out five while keeping the Gang’s offense relatively in check.

“First time that I’ve ever faced him, but he pitched well tonight,” Garrett Gassman said of Kindt. “He kept us off-balanced, he did a great job mixing his slider with his fastball and I know he had me fooled in the first couple at-bats.”

Jared Miller batted 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI, Garrett Gassman added two RBIs on a hit and a walk while Kendall Gassman drove in a run on one hit. Siegel had an RBI on a hit and two walks for Garretson, while Brady Bonte collected two hits in the loss.

Canova advances to the state quarterfinals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a rematch of the 2020 state championship with the Alexandria Angels, an 11-3 win for the Angels. Two teams with tons of championship experience, Garrett Gassman is excited for the challenge.

“There is no real scouting report, we’ve faced each other multiple times in this tournament,” Garrett Gassman said of Alexandria. “Unfortunately, they’ve gotten the upper hand on us most of the time. But the fun thing about baseball is every time it is a little bit different.”

Derek Miller says the key to a quarterfinal win will be exactly how the Gang won Sunday, with great pitching and shutdown defense.

“Our pitching and our defense. If we have a clean game that way, they’re going to throw their best pitcher,” Derek Miller said. “It’s always a battle with Alex, we respect the hell out of them. They’re a great team. May the best team win.”