JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER It was the summer of 1976 — Ron Baker’s first year playing amateur baseball in Freeman. The Scotland native had spent the previous seven seasons playing for his hometown team and helped lead the Highlanders to a Class B state championship the summer before.

For Freeman High School seniors Kate Miller and Erin Uecker, their high school volleyball careers aren’t over quite yet. No, they’ve got a trip to Sioux Falls to make first.

Ron Baker and the late Warren Scherschlight, both of whom have ties to Freeman baseball, will be inducted into the South Dakota Amateur Hall of Fame during a banquet scheduled for Saturday night, Nov. 5 at Beseda Hall in Tabor. A social hour starts at 5:30 p.m. and a roast beef dinner and induction ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by calling 605-661-4889.

The Freeman High School girls are going to their fifth SoDak 16 in a row. Playing in the third and final round of the Region 4B Volleyball Tournament, the top-seed Flyers bumped, set and killed their way past the competition, ousting fourth-seed Scotland 25-12, 25-20, 25-19 at home.

Flyers advance; Wolves eliminated Freeman Public, the top seed in Region 4B, played like it en route to a relatively easy three-set win over No. 8 Irene-Wakonda in Freeman Tuesday night, Nov. 1. The Flyers took down the upset-minded Eagles 25-19, 25-11, 25-12 behind 15 Kate Miller kills, 34 Cami Fransen set assists, 15 Ashlin Jacobsen digs, a pair of Erin Uecker blocks and four aces from Emily Mendel and Zenovia Butler. The Flyers will host No. 4 Scotland Thursday night, Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER When Alivea Weber thinks back on her time playing  volleyball for Freeman Academy/Marion, she knows what she’ll remember best. “This game,” she said.

Elkton-Lake Benton, Class 9AA fourth-ranked team and the second seed in the playoffs, was too much for Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy on Thursday night, rolling to a 52-14 home victory in the quarterfinal round of the postseason. The Elks improve to 10-0 and will face Parkston in the semifinals; the Trojans upset No. 1-ranked Howard 34-7 Thursday night.

Click here for a link to the Oct. 27 quarterfinal playoff game between Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy and Elkton-Lake Benton.

Click here for the gallery. 

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Sixth place. Maybe fifth. That’s where head coach Suzanne Koerner thought the Freeman Academy/Marion boys might land at the 2022 State Cross-Country Meet. You can imagine her surprise when the Bearcats finished third.