Tabor Legion Post 183 traveled to Groton July 30 – August 3 to compete in the 2021 State B American Legion Baseball Tournament. Tabor was the Region 4B champion and in opening round action squared off against Big Stone City and pounded out 14 hits and rolled to a 12-0 victory. Nolan Dvorak, Kaleb Kubal, and Dawson Bietz each went 3-for-3 in the game to lead the offense while Carter Uecker pitched 4 shutout innings and struck out 7 to earn the win while Nate Scieszinski worked a perfect inning in relief.

Tabor advanced to a Saturday match-up against Redfield and hung on for a 5-3 victory. Nolan Carda worked 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits to pick up the win while Trent Herrboldt picked up the save, working 1 scoreless inning of relief. Kubal again led the offense going 3-for-3 including a double while Carda added 2 hits in the win.

The first 2 wins both revenged our 2019 state tournament losses in Lennox and set us up for an undefeated Sunday matchup with Madison. Tabor scored first in the bottom of the 1st inning as Kubal again delivered an RBI single scoring Riley Rothschadl and Post 183 rolled to a 13-0 win. Rothschadl tossed 5 shutout innings allowing 4 hits and struck out 5 to pick up his 6th win of the season. At the plate, Post 183 was led by Kubal and Preston Nedved with 2 hits each while Carda had 1 hit and 3 RBI’s and Rothschadl had 1 hit with 4 runs scored. The win advanced us to the championship game but not before a day 4 match-up with our old nemesis from Vermillion.

On Monday, (which is the beauty of a Legion baseball bracket) we had to face off against the team we hadn’t faced yet or a team we hadn’t faced the most recent to determine how the final day’s pairings would be. As a result, Vermillion Post 1 was waiting for us trying to stay alive while we had intentions of knocking them out and reversing 2 earlier defeats this season. Tabor jumped out again with 3 straight hits by Rothschadl, Carda, and Dvorak which led to an early 2-0 lead. Dustin Honomichl got the start on the mound and worked 5+ innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits before being relieved by Bietz and Herrboldt. In the bottom of the 7th trailing 3-2, Tabor rallied for 2 runs in walk-off fashion and remained unbeaten with a 4-3 victory. Kaden Kozak provided the RBI single to tie the game and Nate Scieszinski knocked in the winning run with a single to left. Herrboldt picked up the win, allowing only 1 hit while getting the last 5 outs. Post 183 had 7 hits in the game and was led by Carda with 2 hits including a double.

The Monday victory moved us into the championship game on Tuesday and our remaining opponent (Redfield) would have to beat us twice to win the title. After trailing early by the score of 3-1, Tabor’s bats woke up with 6 unanswered runs to take a 7-3 lead and Post 183 never looked back on their way to a 10-6 victory over Redfield Post 92. Uecker started and pitched into the 4th inning allowing 5 runs on 8 hits before being relieved by Herrboldt who worked 3+ innings allowing 1 run on 2 hits to pick up the win. The Tabor offense again produced collecting 13 hits led by Herrboldt and Honomichl with 3 hits each, while Rothschadl and Kubal each had 2.

Tabor improved to 23-9 overall and the state championship is their first since 1985 (led by player of the year and recent hall-of-famer Steve Fejfar). In addition to capturing the title, Tabor Legion Post 183 also brought home the 2021 Big Stick Award which went to Kaleb Kubal with a .625 average in the state tournament and the 2021 Most Valuable Player which went to Riley Rothschadl as he batted .375 and pitched a 4-hit shutout. This was a summer to remember with a great group of kids from multiple schools coming together to accomplish a collective goal, and since it took 36 years to win it again tells you how difficult it is. Legion baseball in SD has only 2 classes and competing against the likes of Madison and Vermillion year in-year out without combining can be disadvantageous if you expect to compete for championships. Graduating from the program will be Preston Nedved, Nate Scieszinski, Kaden Kozak, Connor Peters, and Kaleb Kubal. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank the Tabor Legion for their continued support and giving us this opportunity.

2021 season leaders are listed below –

Plate Appearances - Nolan Carda 126, Nolan Dvorak 114, Preston Nedved 114

Batting Average - Riley Rothschadl .494, Nolan Carda .415, Nolan Dvorak .394

On-Base % - Riley Rothschadl .570, Trent Herrboldt .552, Nolan Carda .484

Runs Scored – Nolan Carda 44, Riley Rothschadl 33, Preston Nedved 28

RBI’s – Nolan Carda 34, Nolan Dvorak 29, Riley Rothschadl 32

Walk to Strikeout % - Trent Herrboldt .904, Riley Rothschadl .889, Nolan Carda .786

Doubles – Nolan Carda 11, Riley Rothschadl 10

Triples – Nolan Carda 5

Home Runs – Preston Nedved 3

Stolen Bases – Nolan Carda 22

ERA – Riley Rothschadl 0.72, Trent Herrboldt 2.25, Nolan Carda 2.28

Wins – Riley Rothschadl 6-1, Trent Herrboldt 4-0, Nolan Carda 4-2

Saves – Trent Herrboldt 4

Innings – Riley Rothschadl 38.2, Trent Herrboldt 37.1, Carter Uecker 32.2

Games Pitched – Trent Herrboldt 14, Dawson Bietz 12, Dustin Honomichl 10

Batting Avg Against - Riley Rothschadl .130, Nolan Carda .143, Dustin Honomichl .178