JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER A member of the 1975 Freeman High School boys basketball state championship team and a highly successful coach from West Central will be on the sidelines once again, this time as the assistant girls basketball coach with the Freeman Flyers. Kent Mueller has been hired by the district to work alongside second-year head coach Jenny Peters starting with the 2022-23 basketball season; his contract was to be formally approved by the Freeman School Board at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday night, Aug. 10.

Freeman held a 3-1 lead after five innings but Lake Norden got one back in the sixth, two more in the seventh and an insurance run in the eighth en route to a 5-3 victory in the opening round of the 2022 Class B State Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell Saturday night, Aug. 6.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER They play each other every Fourth of July in Menno, often square off in the District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament, and now two old South Central League rivals find themselves in the same place yet again — this time in Mitchell.

Wynot came away with the District 6 championship after defeating Freeman 4-2 in amateur baseball action Friday night, July 30 in Freeman. The Expos and Blacksox both move on to the South Dakota Class B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell that starts Aug. 3, Wynot as a district champ and Freeman as Rep. No. 1 coming out of the South Central League.

Menno finally came out on top in a close game, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Playing in an elimination game in the District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament in Freeman Thursday night, July 28, the sixth-seed Mad Frogs upset top-seed Lesterville 4-3 in 11 innings to earn their ticket to the state tournament.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Two amateur baseball greats with ties to the Freeman community will be inducted into the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame who will be recognized Saturday, Aug. 6 during the South Dakota State Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell, and at a hall of fame banquet in Tabor Saturday, Nov. 5.

The Freeman town team is heading to the 2022 State Amateur Baseball Tournament next month. The only question is if it will head to Mitchell as the District 6 champion or Representative No. 1.

Centerville proved to be too tough for the defending Class B 14U champions as the Canistota/Freeman Sticks were eliminated in the championship round of the SD VFW Region 6B Tournament. Facing a must-win game in the double-elimination tournament, the Sticks fell to 9-5 Wednesday night, July 13 in Freeman.

Laverne Diede, whose career in education was marked by 40 years at Freeman Public Schools as a coach, teacher and administrator, is being recognized once again for her role in high school athletics. The South Dakota High School Coaches Association (SDHSCA) announced last month that Diede will be inducted into the SDHSCA Hall of Fame. An induction ceremony and awards luncheon will be held at the Highland Conference Center in Mitchell this Sunday, July 17 at 1 p.m. Tickets for the banquet can be arranged by contacting Jim Dorman at 605-940-1262.

For an exclusive and fun look back at Freeman Academy/Marion, Freeman Public and Menno's participation in the 2022 State Track Meet, click here.