Jul. 29—SCOTLAND, S.D. — The Scotland/Menno/Freeman/Canistota Legion baseball team can attest to what a difference a year can make.
The program was 3-11 last season but turned the tables in 2025 for 15 wins, a Region 4B title and the first Class B state Legion tournament appearance in 22 years for any of the towns in the co-op program. The 79ers will play in the final game on Friday, Aug. 1, against the hosts, Milbank Post 9, in the Class B state Legion opening round.
“It’s exciting for us, it’s exciting for the towns involved,” said Riley Tschetter, who is from Freeman and one of the team’s leading players. “We’re getting the chance to do something that hasn’t been done in a long time.”
The Legion-level history has been quiet for the towns involved. Freeman last made the state tournament in 2003, when it won the state championship. The same can be said for Scotland, which won the title in 1999, while Canistota last qualified in 1990, when it played in Milbank for the state tournament and finished second to Groton. (The team has the 79ers nickname because the railroad helped create the towns of Scotland, Menno and Freeman in 1879.)
But many of the players have played tournament-level baseball together. A large group of Canistota/Freeman players were on the 2024 state champion 16-and-under VFW squad, which went 15-5. A 14-and-under team from Freeman/Marion also won the state championship in 2024, setting the table for future success.
“We’ve drawn a lot of confidence from playing together and being in state tournaments before,” Tschetter said. “I think that’s helped us. … We’ve also played a lot of games together this season, and we’ve definitely improved as the season has gone on.”
Even then, the team only has 10 varsity players from the four communities, coach Dustin Tschetter said, although the roster is bolstered by junior Legion players in the postseason.
“It’s a struggle for these small towns, and to put four towns together, we didn’t really have much of a choice because it’s either we’re pulling kids up and we’re asking them to do way too much in the regular season, or we don’t have a team,” Tschetter said. “So it’s one or the other. So this was a pretty easy decision, I think, for us.”
On the field, SMFC put it all together at the end of the season, scoring 31 runs in three games, including a 19-0 win in the championship over Tabor. Prior to that, the 79ers were scoring about 5 runs per game.
“Until the region tournament, we really haven’t had our group get super hot. It’s always been one or two guys and not all nine,” Tschetter said. “And we finally put it together and had quality at-bats up and down the lineup.”
Bryce Sattler was in charge pitching at the regional tournament, winning two games. He threw 43 pitches to cover four innings in an opening round win over Wagner and then came back and pitched two days later in the championship game win over Tabor, throwing 51 pitches in five innings and allowing only two hits. Trent Guthmiller started and won the middle game for SMFC.
“I just know I need to attack the zone,” Sattler said after the region championship game. “That’s what I can do best, and my defense is there to make plays. We’ve had the most success when we pitch aggressively.”
Riley Tschetter stole the show in the regional championship with nine RBIs, and finished 5-for-9 for the tournament and 11 RBIs. Sattler and Rocky Ammann each had three RBIs for the tournament, while Luke Peters was 4-for-6 at the plate in the tournament with three runs scored.
The 79ers split their games against state tournament qualifiers, defeating Parkston twice (2-1 and 5-1) and falling 5-0 to Winner/Colome in the regular season finale.
“We’re going to find out what type of team we are when we get there. We want to show up and have fun, and hopefully our bats will travel with us,” coach Tschetter said.