WATERTOWN — The home openers for Watertown High School’s boys tennis team and girls softball team each went very well on Tuesday.
The Arrow tennis team improved to 3-2 on the season by recording a 7-2 win over Sioux Falls Jefferson in an early afternoon dual at the Highland Park tennis courts.
Later in the day, Watertown’s softball team (1-2 on the season) used a four-run fifth inning to break into the win column with a 5-4 victory over Pierre in a game played at the PREMIER Softball Complex.
Watertown’s tennis squad kicks off a stretch of 12-straight road duals when it visits Milbank at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The Arrows also will play Aberdeen Roncalli and Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Monday in Sioux Falls and will head west to compete in the Rapid City Invite on Thursday and Friday, April 24-25.
The softball team is scheduled to visit Aberdeen on Thursday.
Three wins in a row for WHS tennis team
The Arrow tennis season is less a week old. After opening with 8-1 losses to Sioux Falls Lincoln and Aberdeen Central last Thursday in the Aberdeen, Watertown posted wins over Pierre (9-0) and Huron (8-1) on Saturday in Huron before making their home debut on Tuesday.
“It was a great day for tennis and we came out on top against Jefferson,” Watertown coach Ryan Zink said. “We are still just a little inconsistent in some areas in singles and doubles as the guys are adjusting to moving up positions in the lineup. No one gave up and I really liked their effort.”
- Singles — Skyler Stanton, W, def. Blake Walter, 6-3, 6-3; Carter Kemmis, SFJ, def. Joey Meester 6-3, 4-6 (10-2 tiebreaker); Matthew Bertsch, W, def. Charlie Erickson 6-3, 6-4; Xane Fligge, W, def. Champ Baumgarten 4-6, 6-4 (10-7 tiebreaker); Dawson Hartman, W, def. Asher Vandewater 6-0, 6-2; and Sam Karst, W, def. Austin Josephson 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 6-1.
- Doubles — Walter-Erickson, SFJ, def. Stanton-Meester 1-6, 6-4 (10-5 tiebreaker); Bertsch-Fligge, W, def. Kemmis-Baumgarten 6-4, 4-6 (10-4 tiebreaker); and Hartman-Karst, W, def. Vandewater-Josephson, 6-1, 6-0.
- Exhibitions — Singles: Tyson Lawrence, W, def. Ian Casper, 10-1; Taren Veflin, W, def. Khang Vuong, 10-2; Boston Butler, W, def. Ryler McLay, 10-5; Lucas Meester, W, def. Seth Borchers, score not reported. Doubles: Lawrence-Veflin, W, def. Casper-Vuong, 10-1; and L. Meester-Butler, W, def. McLay-Borchers, 10-2.
Arrow softball team holds on for first win
It’s also still very early in the season for the WHS softball team, which opened its season last Tuesday with a 7-3 loss at Brookings. Watertown also fell 7-4 at Mitchell on Monday.
Against Pierre, the two teams were tied 1-1 before Watertown used consecutive two-out, two-run singles by Aleia Johnston and Alaina Dettman to take a 5-1 lead. The Governors rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth before Watertown pitcher Alexa Brown got the final out and then nailed down the win with a 1-2-3 seventh.
“Overall, we did a lot of great things,” Watertown coach Kelli Brinka said. “Alexa is keeping the ball down and doing a good job of moving it around the plate, we are making big plays in the fiedl and we’re having big hits and being able to string them together when we need to.”
Dettman also doubled in the game and joined Kodi Lund with two hits. Alexa and Jada Brown and Kynslee Johsnon also added singles for the Arrows. Brown surrendered seven hits, struck out 10 batters and allowed only one earned run.
A. Brown also gave up only one earned run and struck out eight batters in Monday’s loss. Lund had two hits and Johnston homered and drove in two runs. Lauryn Hirsch and Johnson each also singled.
“The thing that is really hurting us right now is our simple errors in the fiel and not being ready at the plate,” Brinka said. “That being said, it’s still very early and we have a lot of season left to make those improvements.
“We’re excited for the nice weather in the near future and being able to get outside more consistently and work on live-game like situations.”
In other games next week, the Arrows are slated to host Tea Area at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday and visit Harrisburg at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: First home appearances for Watertown’s boys tennis, girls softball teams