Turnaround season
JCC grad co-coach of state-bound team
Jackson County Central graduate Jayni (Anderson) Schroeder is a co-head coach of the Tri-Valley High School softball team that will open play in the South Dakota state Class A tournament Thursday in Aberdeen. Class A is the middle of three classes of softball in the state.
The Mustangs are seeded fifth in the eight-team tournament.
This is only the second year the South Dakota High School Activities Association has sanctioned softball. By contrast, the first Minnesota State High School League tournament was held in 1977.
In its first season in 2023, Tri-Valley had a record of 1-16.
This year, the Mustangs are 13-7 and have won four of their last five games entering the state tourney.
Tri-Valley advanced to state with a 15-0 win over Sisseton in the SoDak 16 game last week at Bowden Field at Augustana University. The other wins in the last five games were by scores of 15-2, 18-2 and another 15-0 victory.
The loss in that stretch came to the Mustangs first-round state tournament opponent at 12:30 p.m. Thursday., fourth-seeded Madison (15-4).
Tri-Valley has played five of the other teams that are in the state Class A tourney, going 1-5. They had games scheduled against all seven teams, but the other two were canceled.
The win was 12-1 over Beresford. The Mustangs have lost twice to Dell Rapids and once apiece to Madison, West Central, and Tea. Games vs. Elk Point-Jefferson and Dakota Valley were canceled.
Jayni was named on the all-Big South Conference team twice during her playing days at JCC.
