Two Dakota Valley baseball seniors made the cut as finalists for South Dakota High School Baseball Association’s (SDHSBA) Class B Player of the Year for the 2023 season. Jaxon Hennies and Jake Pruchniak were 2 of 5 players from the state to be named to this exclusive list.

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The South Dakota Softball Coaches Association Academic All-State team includes seniors who were nominated by their coach and have a GPA of 3.5 or above. In Class A, Dakota Valley’s seniors to receive this recognition were Logan Miller and Emma Wiese.

It was the inaugural season for sanctioned high school softball in South Dakota this year and the Panthers were a part of history at the state tournament to start the month of June. Qualifying teams travelled to Aberdeen, with Class A and Class B playing games at The Players Complex, while Class AA played ball on the campus of Northern University.

A big ticket was punched for the first ever South Dakota state high school softball tournament by the Panthers on Tuesday, May 23. Dakota Valley as a #3 seed in the SoDak 16 qualifier hosted #14 Sioux Falls Christian and proceeded to dominate in 3 innings of play to extend their season.

Track and field athletes from all over South Dakota stampeded into Howard Wood stadium on May 25, May 26 and May 27 for the state track meet. Dakota Valley, as a member of Class A, was on-hand along with many others. All classes competed at the same location for state track to make for an epic weekend of runs, jumps, throws and breaking records.

The DAK-XII conference golf meet took place on Monday, May 22 at The Bluffs Golf Course in Vermillion. Dakota Valley represented well as a team to bring home a 4th place finish, they also had 2 individuals finish in the top 20.

Four Dakota Valley golfers will compete at the South Dakota girls state Class A golf tournament in Rapid City on June 5 and 6. The Panthers will play on the Meadowbrook Golf Course. The site location for Class AA is Hillsview Golf Course in Pierre and for Class B it is Cattail Crossing Golf Course in Watertown. Dakota Valley will putt, chip and drive against some of the best high school golfers from across all of South Dakota.

The inaugural regular season of high school softball in South Dakota has come to a close, but Dakota Valley still has games to play as qualifiers for state. For the first time ever, as a sanctioned sport, the South Dakota state softball tournament will take place in Aberdeen. Class A and Class B schools will be at Players Softball Complex and Class AA teams play games on Koehler Hall of Fame Field.

The Dakota Valley Panthers Baseball team had three players named to the Class B All-State 1st Team. The list was recently released from the South Dakota High School Baseball Association. Players included, seniors Isaac Bruns, Jake Pruchniak and Jaxon Hennies.