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Harrisburg Woodies capture first-ever Class A state championship
The Harrisburg Woodies celebrate their Class A championship after defeating the Renner Monarchs 4-3 Sunday during a Class A championship game of the 2025 South Dakota State Amateur Baseball Tournament Sunday, August 17, 2025 in Brandon.
(Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Harrisburg Woodies capture first-ever Class A state championship

Aug 17, 2025
  

 

By 605 Sports Staff

BRANDON — The Harrisburg Woodies took home the gold in its first season in Class A amateur baseball.

Harrisburg clipped Renner, 4-3, in the Class A state championship during the 93rd annual state amateur baseball tournament at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park Sunday.

The Woodies, which lost to Renner in a 15-inning marathon Friday, 7-1, avenged the semifinal loss in the state championship.

Harrisburg got Sunday’s championship started scoring a run on a Tyler Mitzel RBI-single. The Monarchs responded with three runs in the home half of the first with a Tony Lanier single and a two-run homer from Dave Borchardt, but that would be the only runs scored by the Monarchs in the loss.


Harrisburg’s starting pitcher Mitzel, after a rough first inning, shut down Renner the final eight innings to take the win. Mitzel allowed just three runs on seven hits and a walk in nine solid innings, striking out 11 in the win.

Facing a 3-1 deficit after the first inning, the Woodies began chipping away at the Monarch lead, scoring one on a Riley Johnson single in the second, before tying the championship on a Mitzel solo home run. Mitzel, the tournament MVP, batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one solo home run.

The championship finally flipped in favor of the Woodies in the eighth with an RBI groundout from Jack Sutton to give Harrisburg its first lead since the opening frame. Mitzel continued to deal the rest of the way, powering Harrisburg to its first-ever Class A state championship.

Johnson batted 2-for-4 with an RBI, Sutton had one hit and one RBI, while Dalton Lehnen and Kole Zimmerman each had one hit in the win.

For the 23-time state champion Monarchs, Ryan Hander took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out four. Borchardt had two RBIs on a homer, Lanier added an RBI on one hit, Adam Durfee recorded two hits, while Josh Rosencranz, Mitch Stroh and Corey Vasquez each had a hit in the loss.