POST 152 HEADED FOR STATE — AND IT WASN’T EVEN CLOSE
Post 152 goes 3-0 in Region 4B tournament last week; Riley Tschetter’s 4-for-4, 9-RBI showing triggers 19-0 beatdown of Tabor in championship
JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER
Brad Miller, a coach with the Post 152 Senior Legion baseball team, admits he felt unsettled heading into Thursday afternoon’s championship game against Post 183 out of Tabor.
Sure, the team that goes by 79ers was in the driver’s seat after winning its first two games of the Region 4B Tournament and would therefore have to be defeated twice by its opponent, Tabor. But still …
“I’m not going to lie, I had a bad feeling before the game,” Miller said. “My gut just had a bad feeling for some reason. Thank God my gut didn’t know my head from my rear.”
Indeed, Post 152 didn’t just beat Post 183, they jackhammered the Tabor squad to the tune of 19-0 — a certified butt-whooping that sends the 79ers to the state tournament in Milbank later this week in just its second year as a program. Action starts Friday, Aug. 1.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” said Miller, who co-founded the Canistota/Freeman Sticks program with Dustin Tschetter in 2016 and has watched a highly successful program evolve — and change. “We’ve got so much versatility, and it all started from 8u, when we taught the kids to play the game at every position.”
And he admitted the shift from “Sticks” to “79ers” wasn’t necessarily easy.
“It was a struggle at first just trying to figure out some team camaraderie,” he said. “But this just shows the character and the dedication of the kids — just the work ethic. This is all them.”
“I want to thank the Freeman and Canistota guys for coming over and joining us,” said Joe Keppen, a coach out of Scotland. “To have this kind of success in the second year is kind of surprising, but we’ve got a lot of talented kids, and we expect success in the future, as well.”
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Pictured standing: Coach Mike Kerrigan, Luke Peters, Eason Miller, Riley Tschetter, Sawyer Wipf, Evan Scharberg, Bryce Sattler, Rocky Ammann, Parker Hochstein, Trent Guthmiller, Kory Keppen, Erick Büchler and Coach Joe Keppen; Front: Coaches Brad Miller and Dustin Tschetter, Izayah Ulmer, Eason Tschetter, Oliver Waltner, Jarret Andretta, Riley Gall, Tayden Kerrigan, Tannen Auch and Coach Corey Gall.
Tournament road
When the four-team, double-elimination Region 4B bracket was released earlier this month, Post 152 no doubt had Tabor circled as the team to beat. The historically strong baseball program had handed the 79ers a 12-9 loss back on June 11 and entered the postseason with a 10-6 record.
Both teams took care of business in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday, July 22, with Post 152 defeating Wagner 6-1 and Tabor taking care of Platte-Geddes 10-2.
In Post 152’s opening-round win, the 79ers took advantage of five Wagner errors, with just two of its six runs earned. They plated one in the first, two more in the third and another in the fourth to build a 4-0 lead, and then added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Wagner’s lone run came in the bottom of the final inning.
Easton Miller went 2-for-3, Riley Tschetter had a double and two RBI, and Rocky Ammann and Easton Tschetter both singled for the 79ers, with Ammann knocking in a run.
Bryce Sattler was the winning pitcher, giving up just two hits over four innings of work, striking out three without a walk. Erick Buechler pitched two innings in relief, striking out three and walking one, while Tayden Kerrigan cleaned up the final inning, striking out a pair.
That set up the expected semifinal matchup between the region’s two best teams the following day, with Tabor hoping that its best pitcher, Madden Merkwan, would do the trick. But no.
The 79ers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Sawyer Wipf that scored Tayden Kerrigan, and then plated three more in the fourth on an RBI single by Easton Tschetter that scored Luke Peters, and then a 2-RBI single by Kory Keppen that scored Wipf and Izayah Ulmer.
Tabor responded, however, with one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and another in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4, but left two would-be-go-ahead runners in scoring position. Had one of those runs scored, Tabor would have been just three outs away from the win, while also forcing the 79ers to win later that night against Wagner, and then twice in championship play the following day.
Instead, Post 152 regained control of the game — and the tournament — in the final inning.
It started with an Easton Miller single and a steal of second that was followed by an RBI single from Kerrigan. Pinch hitter Oliver Waltner then singled to score Kerrigan to make it a 6-4 game, and then Ulmer — pinch running for Waltner — scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Tschetter to bring the game to its final score of 7-4.
Tannen Auch, on in relief of starting pitcher Trent Guthmiller, recorded the last four outs to earn the win.
“We did everything we possibly could to lose this ball game, and yet you guys showed that you’ve got a lot of heart and came back to win the seventh inning,” coach Dustin Tschetter told the team after the game. “We could have folded after giving up the four-run lead, but you showed a lot of heart and a lot of determination, came back and got it done. Now we’ve got one more to go get.”
Keppen went 4-for-4 and Kerrigan was 3-for-4 to lead the 79ers from the plate. Keppen and Tschetter both had two RBI, and Kerrigan, Wipf and Waltner each with one.
Guthmiller threw 5 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on nine hits, striking out three and walking two. Auch allowed one hit in 1 2/3 innings pitched.
Championship round
The 79ers needed just one more win on the third and final day of the Region 4B Tournament to qualify for state, and with Tabor staying alive with a 9-2 victory over Wagner the night before, the rematch was set.
And Post 152 had to feel in control of the situation despite Miller’s uneasy feeling. Not only would Tabor have to beat the 79ers twice, it would have to do so against the strength of deep pitching. In addition to Sattler, Post 152’s arsenal of strong arms includes others who had not yet reached the maximum pitch count allowed, whereas Tabor was far more limited.
Still, while the 79ers had the edge on paper, they still needed to execute — and execute they did.
Post 152 jumped ahead 1-0 early and then built a 5-0 lead in the second thanks to a game-seizing grand slam by Riley Tschetter — a blast that infused energy into an already fired-up squad and must have felt like an early dagger for Tabor.
“It felt great, especially in that situation,” said Tschetter, who will be a senior at Freeman Public this coming school year. “I knew it would be over his head, but I didn’t think it was going to get out.”
It did, and the 79ers were just getting going, adding four more in the third inning thanks in part to a two-run home run from Rocky Ammann.
“I didn’t really have much bounce in my step today; my hip’s a little sore,” said Ammann, a 2024 Freeman High School graduate playing in his last year of American Legion baseball eligibility. “I couldn’t really swing the bat, but I squeaked one over.”
Post 152’s 10-0 lead in the third inning was more than enough for Sattler, who was called upon to pitch for the second time in the tournament and was in total control. The 2025 Menno High School graduate threw just 51 pitches — 38 for strikes — and allowed just two hits.
“I just try to throw strikes and get outs — that’s all you can do as a pitcher,” said Sattler.
“You never fall asleep in the outfield because Bryce has a lot of quick innings out there,” said Kory Keppen, a 2025 Scotland High School graduate who will play baseball at Mount Marty University in Yankton. “It’s great to have a guy who can pound the zone like that.”
Tabor, on the other hand, was fully aboard the struggle bus.
Starting pitcher, Isaiah Crownover — the team’s best arm left — lasted just two innings, and Post 183 would use four other pitchers the remainder of the game.
And it was basically batting practice the rest of the way.
Leading 10-0, the 79ers scored nine more runs in the fourth inning to put the lead into another stratosphere, and the championship game ended unceremoniously after five innings thanks to the 10-run mercy rule that Tschetter nearly implemented himself with an insane 4-for-4, nine-RBI performance.
“Hitting a grand slam helps,” said Dustin Tschetter, Riley’s dad who has also been his coach since he could swing a bat.
Evan Scharberg, a 2024 Freeman High School graduate, had a good day at the plate, too, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a pair of RBI.
Luke Peters, who will be a Freeman High School senior when school starts, had a double, and Sattler, Keppen and Trent Guthmiller also accounted for one RBI each.
Post 152’s 19 runs against Tabor — and 32 runs in the tournament — was a breakout performance for an offense that had been struggling. In their final five regular season games, the 79ers went 1-4 and scored just 10 runs.
Finding chemistry
By all accounts, this sophomore season of Post 152 Senior Legion baseball has gone much better than last year’s inaugural campaign both in terms of production and team chemistry. The 79ers ended their 2024 season with a 3-11 record and with losses to Wagner and Tabor in region play.
“I feel we get along a lot better this year, and we play a lot better with each other,” said Riley Tschetter. “We’ve figured out how to just do our job, but also to trust each other.”
“We just have a lot of great players,” said Sattler. “We just work together, build off each other and have great team chemistry that builds momentum.”
“There’s never any pressure; everybody brings their A game,” said Keppen. “Nobody can take a night off, but we also have guys who can pick each other up if somebody makes a mistake. We just have a lot of fun every game.”
As for the 19-0 championship win over Tabor and state tournament berth, Sattler says it like it is.
“It’s just a great feeling. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
As for Dustin Tschetter’s message to the boys heading to Milbank, he, too, says it like it is.
“Have fun. Enjoy the moment.”
