BRANDON — The new kids on the block will play for the state championship. 

The Parkston Devil Rays continued their unlikely state tourney run, stunning Sunshine League foe and perennial power Alexandria, 7-2, on Saturday at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park. 

The Devil Rays, a third-year team playing in their first-ever state tourney appearance, will play Castlewood or Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks at 2 p.m. for the state championship Sunday. 

“It’s real rewarding,” Parkston Devil Ray manager Doug Sudbeck said. “You don’t make it back here that often and these kids proved that they can get there, and now if we can come out and get a win tomorrow would be awesome.”

On Saturday, Parkston knocked off another Class B powerhouse and this time against a fellow Sunshine League foe. The Devil Rays have now defeated district champs Madison, Kimball/White Lake and Alexandria, along with 2024 state champion Dell Rapids PBR through the first four games. 

The Devil Rays lost to Alexandria, 15-6, in the District 5B tournament. The teams also split their two regular-season meetings. 

But Parkston won the matchup that mattered most on Saturday. 

“They are a great team,” Parkston Devil Ray centerfielder Seth Muth said. “I wish we could have played them in the ‘ship. That would have been really fun. They had a great season. They are a great ballclub.”

The Devil Rays stung the Angels early and often with six runs through the first three innings, building a 6-1 advantage. Muth got Parkston started with a lead-off double in the first inning, and later scored on a stolen base at home plate. 

Alexandria answered when Jerrod Zens, who hit a lead-off triple, scored on a Cole Wenande RBI single in the bottom half. 

In the second inning, the Devil Rays plated three runs and all with two outs for a 4-1 advantage. Tanner Dyk smacked a two-out RBI single into center field, scoring Caden Donahue for a 2-1 lead. Carter Sommer followed it up with a two-out RBI single, scoring Dyk and Muth for a three-run lead. 

“If we can get momentum in the beginning of the game that’s huge for us,” said Muth, who finished 3-for-5, hit two doubles, scored two runs and drove in a run. “Sometimes we start off a little slow, and then we have to pick it up in the end. It’s a lot better if we can start early.”

In the third inning, Alexandria committed two fielding errors that led to two Devil Ray runs. Donahue hit a ground ball and reached first base on an error by third baseman Pierce Smith, while James Deckert scored on the same error. In the next at-bat, Landon Sudbeck hit a ground ball and reached base on an error by Pierce Smith, while Donahue scored from second base. 

Alexandria committed five total errors, while Parkston played clean baseball and didn’t commit an error. 

“That’s huge,” Sudbeck said. “We committed no errors. We made every play possible. We put the ball in play. They made a few uncharacteristic errors. They don’t usually do that, but this time they did. It benefitted us.” 

It also benefitted Parkston starter Jake Helleloid, who used the early five-run cushion to his advantage. 

“That was huge,” Helleloid said. “My velo (velocity) wasn’t there. My arm has been hurting a little bit. I knew I had to bear down and get a job done. So getting a lot of runs right away was awesome.”

In the fifth inning, Helleloid surrendered a Jerrod Zens RBI double and Alexandria got within 6-2. But Helleloid threw up zeros on the scoreboard the rest of the way. Helleloid struck out six batters, scattered seven hits, allowed two earned runs and walked one batter in a complete-game performance. 

In the top of the seventh, Ty Neugebauer scored on a bases-loaded walk to reach the final margin. 

Alexandria Legion player Tyler Sanderson started, lasted three innings, surrendered six hits, four earned runs, one walk and struck out six batters. Wyatt Kayser allowed one hit, one earned run, three walks and struck out two batters in 3.1 relief innings. 

Zens and Michael Schoettmer had two hits apiece for the Angels. 

Parkston Legion player James Deckert added two hits for the Devil Rays, who will now turn their attention to the state championship. 

“It feels awesome,” Helleloid said. “We have been playing every day to try and get here. We have to go do it now.”