Postseason brackets are officially locked in for the South Dakota American Legion Class A baseball tournament following the release of the first-round pairings.
The top-ranked Rapid City Post 22 Hardhats (41-11 overall) earned a first-round bye as the automatic qualifier and host of the double-elimination state tournament. The remaining 14 teams will square off in seven best-of-three series beginning Wednesday, July 22, to determine who fills out the rest of the eight-team state field.
The postseason field was seeded using the standard high school seed-point formula, counting only games played against in-state Class A opponents.
With the Hardhats resting, No. 2 seed Sioux Falls West Post 15 takes the top spot in the active bracket and will host No. 15 seed Huron. Other opening-round matchups include No. 3 Yankton hosting No. 14 Aberdeen, No. 4 Brandon Valley hosting No. 13 Spearfish, and No. 5 Brookings welcoming No. 12 Sioux Falls East.
Reigning Class A state champion and No. 8 seed Harrisburg will host a highly anticipated series against No. 9 Renner Post 307. Meanwhile, No. 7 Pierre will host No. 10 Watertown, and No. 6 Rapid City Post 320 will welcome No. 11 Palace City Post 18.
Opening games for all series are scheduled for Wednesday evening, with Game 2 and if-necessary Game 3 matchups slated for Thursday, July 23. Friday, July 24, will serve as a rain date.
The seven series winners will join Rapid City Post 22 at Fitzgerald Stadium in Rapid City for the state tournament, which runs July 28 through Aug. 1. The state tournament bracket will be re-seeded 1 through 8 based on the surviving opening-round teams.