The newest sanctioned South Dakota high school state tournament is finally here.

The inaugural State Softball Tournament will take place in Aberdeen today through Saturday and South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) Assistant Executive Director Jo Auch could not be more thrilled.

“Well, I think the first and foremost thing for me is we finally got softball,” Auch said. “Being the 50th state in the nation to finally get it, that’s not a moment I’m really proud of, but after six years of working hard to try and get to where we are, I’m pleased with the opportunity to provide these girls an opportunity to play for a state championship like we do with any of our other sports.”

Aside from finally getting softball as a SDHSAA-sanctioned sport, Auch is excited to see all three classes of softball – AA, A, and B – in the same city and also to see what the single city host site model would look like.

Auch says there were also other cities in contention to be the host site for the first-ever state softball tournament. She drove around the state visiting different venues that could possibly host the tournament.

“I think the thing that I thought the kids deserved was kind of a stadium-type setting, much like what we do for baseball and things of that nature, where you’ve got some grandstands and seats on the side,” Auch said.

However, as she toured the state, Auch found there were not many facilities that fit the typical softball stadium feel, although the new Northern State softball complex drew her attention.

“I was visiting with Dawn (Seiler) and some of the people in Aberdeen (and they said) oh, we’ve got a great site here,” Auch said.

Auch loved what she saw, and after contemplating other potential host cities, ultimately came back to Aberdeen.

“When we determined we wanted to keep all the classes together, I visited with Aberdeen and Aberdeen said well we’ve got this Players Complex out here too that we’ve redone, and went out and looked at that,” Auch said. “I thought, you know what, maybe this is a pretty good idea just to try and keep everybody together that first year, kind of build some unity within the sport, (and) see what it’s going to be.”

Auch said having all three classes in the same city will allow fans to travel back-and-forth between the diamonds to watch every class and promote the sport of softball to fans from all across the state.

Having the first state softball tournament in Aberdeen was appealing to Auch due to the hospitality the city is known for when it hosts other state events, such as the Class B boys’ basketball tournament every March.

“Aberdeen has always been a very great host, as are all of our hosts, but they wanted to make this something really, really special,” Auch said. “They opened their arms and welcomed the opportunity.”

Auch said the Aberdeen Convention & Visitors Bureau has been welcoming and has made sure that everything is in order when the tournaments begin.

“That type of red-carpet treatment you don’t get everywhere,” Auch said. “Not to say that others wouldn’t do that, but that first one, they were really forthcoming and wanting to host it, and just felt that was a great opportunity for us to do so.”

Since finding out that the tournament would be coming to Aberdeen, the Aberdeen Convention & Visitors Bureau has been hard at work preparing for the new opportunity. Casey Weismantel, Executive Director of the Bureau, said the city has been feverishly preparing for the event.

“We’re getting everything put together with the help of Dawn Seiler, Athletic Director for Aberdeen Central, (who is) our contact with the South Dakota High School Activities Association,” Weismantel said. “Working with her has been super great. We are there behind her to support her any way we can.”

In addition to working with Seiler and the SDHSAA, the Visitors Bureau has also been working with other city agencies such as the Parks and Recreation Department and the city council to make sure the city is ready for the new event. Weismantel said the city is thrilled to be hosting not only another high school state tournament, but the first of its kind in South Dakota.

“We’re very accustomed to hosting high school activities and high school tournaments, but this being the first one of its kind, we’re super excited to roll out that Aberdeen hospitality and set that bar high,” Weismantel said. “We’re excited to have another high school activities event in Aberdeen, and we’ll treat them just as we do any other tournament. (We’ll) roll out the carpet and make them feel like they’re VIP’s when they’re here.”

Weismantel said hosting the softball tournament does not have many differences than other high school tournaments, other than the weather and the fact that it is a brand-new event.

“It’s warmer, the sun is shining, there’s no snow on the ground,” Weismantel said. “I just think with the unique opportunity of hosting the state girls’ softball tournament, the first-ever of its kind, there’s bugs we’re going to work out on our end. We’ve got those all smoothed out already, and we’re just excited to see that tournament play.”

Although the season has run smoothly, Auch says there were some changes that had to be made throughout to get to the state tournament, such as scheduling, weather, and rules adjustments.

“I think some people thought it was going to be a little easier to get scheduling, and then the spring that we had, unfortunately, didn’t lend to a very pleasurable season for any of our spring sports,” Auch said. “Our AD’s were absolutely phenomenal in getting things rescheduled and getting opportunities for kids to play when the weather was nice, and how they did that, hats off to them.”

To be able to participate in the SoDak 16, Auch said teams had to play a minimum of eight regular season games. However, she feared that some teams may not be able to play eight games, but waited to see how the season would unfold before making changes to the stipulations. Fortunately, no changes needed to be made on that side of the sport.

Another obstacle that needed to be dealt with was the amount of time softball games took to be played. Auch said she did not anticipate games taking as long as they have.

“I think a lot of the ball games have gone two-plus hours when we were kind of counting on an hour and a half,” Auch said. “So, when people scheduled a doubleheader, if they didn’t have lights, and started at 4 or 4:30, they had to really push to try and get through two games.”

Auch said that changes were made to the scoring system to make sure teams could play doubleheaders and credits the Softball Advisory Committee with helping everyone through the problems that came throughout the course of season.

“There weren’t many,” Auch said. “But anytime you have those opening seasons like that, there’s always things you don’t think of, and we were gracious enough to be able to try and accommodate most of the things that became problematic for us early on.”

Another problem when preparing for the tournament came outside of the sport itself. Lodging accommodations for all 24 qualifying teams became a concern.

“There weren’t hotels big enough to house all the teams,” Auch said. “We run into that when we have combined volleyball as well. When we go to Sioux Falls or Rapid (City), we have to spread them out in a couple of different motels. We had to spread them out in about four or five different hotels in Aberdeen.”

Auch said that the SDHSAA will need to continue to look at the lodging issue for years to come if they decide to keep the softball tournaments in one location, although she said it’s possible that the tournaments could move to multiple locations.

“I want to keep it together for a while and see how this is going to play out,” Auch said. “I could see this a couple of years down the road eventually probably spreading out into three different locations, much like we do for basketball.”

As for Weismantel, he wants all who are coming to the tournament to know that the community of Aberdeen is ready to serve them and welcome them for another tournament.

“I think for our end, just let them know that we are 100% prepared,” Weismantel said. “Having two brand-new locations to host the first-ever girls’ state softball event for South Dakota high school activities, we’re set and ready.”

Below are the pairings for all three classes:

Class B – Players Softball Complex – Fields A and B

10 AM – No. 1 Alcester-Hudson vs No. 8 Hanson

12:30 PM – No. 4 Bon Homme vs No. 5 Gayville-Volin

3 PM – No. 2 Arlington vs No. 7 Viborg-Hurley

5:30 PM – No. 3 Castlewood vs No. 6 Deuel

Class A – Players Softball Complex – Fields C and D

10 AM – No. 1 Dell Rapids vs No. 8 Lennox

12:30 PM – No. 4 Madison vs No. 5 Tea Area

3 PM – No. 2 West Central vs No. 7 Beresford

5:30 PM – No. 3 Dakota Valley vs No. 6 Elk Point-Jefferson

Class AA – Koehler Hall of Fame Field

10 AM – No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln vs No. 8 Yankton

12:30 PM – No. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson vs No. 5 Sioux Falls Washington

3 PM – No. 2 Harrisburg vs No. 7 Brandon Valley

5:30 PM – No. 3 Brookings vs No. 6 O’Gorman