Tea Steam earns State Tournament berth with District win

The Tea Steam bounced back from an opening-round loss to punch its ticket to the 2026 Class A State Amateur Baseball Tournament with a 6-3 victory over the Brandon Belugas in district tournament action on Aug. 1.

Tea opened district play on July 31 with a 13-3 loss to the Renner Monarchs before responding with the must-win victory over Brandon to earn a berth in the state tournament.

The Tea Steam will travel to Yankton for the opening weekend of the Class A State Tournament and will face Brookings at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. The tournament will be held Aug. 7-9 in Yankton, with the final rounds scheduled for Aug. 14-16 in Mitchell.

The Steam opened district play on July 31 against the Renner Monarchs but fell 13-3.

Renner took control early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a three-run home run by Seth Miller. Tea threatened in the second after Nathan Babb and Matthew Hanson drew back-to-back walks, but Caleb Kranz escaped the inning with a strikeout to preserve the 3-0 lead.

The game turned in the bottom of the third when Renner erupted for nine runs. The Monarchs capitalized on six walks, a hit batter and a pair of hits, including a two-run single by Tony Lanier, to stretch their advantage to 12-0. Tea used three different pitchers during the inning in an attempt to slow the rally.

Tea finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Ben Loos belted a solo home run to right field. The Steam added another run later in the inning as Henry Hammrich scored on a ground-ball double play by Troy Ljunggren, trimming the deficit to 12-2.

The Steam plated one more run in the fifth after Michael Buchmann singled, Dawson Portner was hit by a pitch and Cameron Jensen walked to load the bases. Loos drove home Buchmann with a groundout, making it 12-3.

Renner added its final run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning before holding Tea scoreless over the final two innings to secure the 13-3 victory.

Buchmann and Andy Moen each collected two hits to lead the Steam offense, while Loos finished with a home run and two RBIs. Tea drew seven walks and was hit by two pitches but stranded several runners throughout the contest. Nathan Babb pitched three innings of relief, allowing just two earned runs while striking out three after entering during Renner’s big third inning. Billy Mote and Henry Hammrich also saw action on the mound with Mote striking out two and Hammrich striking out one. 

Against Brandon, Tea took control early, scoring once in the first inning before adding three runs in the second to build a 4-0 lead. Cameron Jensen drove in a run with an RBI single, while the Steam capitalized on Beluga errors to extend the advantage.

Tea added another run in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by Billy Mote and scored again in the sixth when Andy Moen drove in the eventual game-winning run with a fielder’s choice.

Offensively, Tea received hits from Dawson Portner, Ben Loos, Andy Moen and Troy Ljunggren. The Steam totaled 10 hits in the contest.

With the district victory over Brandon, Tea secured its place among the state’s top amateur baseball teams and will now turn its attention to the opening round of the Class A State Tournament against Brookings this Friday in Yankton. A complete bracket is pictured at right.