Harrisburg softball finishes impressive season with state championship
HARRISBURG, S.D. (BVM) — The Harrisburg Tigers were facing the reigning state champion Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriots in what was to be the first game of the South Dakota high school softball state tournament.
In the double-elimination tournament, the Tigers had already beaten the Patriots in the semifinals. Lincoln then had to go beat Roosevelt to get another shot at Harrisburg in the state championship.The Patriots came out and reminded everyone why they were the reigning state champions and beat the Tigers 12-0.
“We got everyone’s best effort this year,” Harrisburg coach Toby Bryant said.
And the Tigers were able to come through a vast majority of the time, even beating Lincoln three times before getting dealt a loss in the first game of the state final. It was their third loss of the season.
About halfway through the season, Harrisburg was swept by Roosevelt, and it was those losses that the Tigers looked back at to use as an example of how to move forward.
“When you win, it’s the kids and when you lose, it’s the coach,” Bryant said. “The kids proved they are the reason we are champions and they figured it out in the second game.”
Harrisburg came back the next day and beat the Patriots 12-2 to win their first Class A state championship.
For Bryant and the Tigers, it was a testament to all the hard work they had put into this season and the culture that Bryant was trying to establish.
“We focused all year on culture and climate,” Bryant said.
A big part of that focus was put toward the five seniors on the team.
“We really put stock into playing for our senior class and really wanted their leadership to shine through,” Bryant said.
It was a process that took time and there was not immediate buy-in from the seniors. However, they came around to it and it’s because of them that Harrisburg made its state championship run.
“I just appreciate them so much and they’ll always have a special place with us because they had to embrace it and be the first group of seniors to put up with me,” Bryant said.
The seniors leave with a championship and the Tigers have a bright future ahead of them.
“We had a lot of underclassmen on this team. We had a great senior class this year of five girls. We had a great junior class of five or six girls that compliments them,” Bryant said. “Very excited about the future of Tiger softball.”
