HURON — The rain this spring led to a two-week span where the Huron Tigers baseball team did not play a single game, putting the postseason into question due to potentially not having enough wins. Instead, a doubleheader against O’Gorman on May 3 gave the team the games needed to qualify, and the club then ended the regular season with a pair of victories Saturday at Klock Field to earn the 15th seed in regional play.

The Tigers will battle second-seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln at the Sanford Sports Complex beginning tonight at 5 p.m. The best of three series will continue Saturday at 11 a.m., and if needed, the third game would be Sunday at 1 p.m.

Huron coach Jason Babl admits that they don’t have a lot of knowledge on the Lincoln club, primarily due to having a doubleheader that was scheduled for April 19 cancelled due to rain.

“We don’t know much, other than they are playing great baseball right now just like we are,” Babl said. “We are coming off some much-needed wins to help provide us some confidence going into regional play.”

The Tigers closed out the season with wins over two playoff-bound teams, fifth-seeded Rapid City Stevens and 16th-seeded Sioux Falls Washington on Saturday. The two victories put the Tigers’ season record at 4-12.

The Tigers have been blessed with depth in the pitching this year, with seven arms topping double-digits in innings pitched, led by senior Layne Wenzel’s 20 2/3 innings. Wenzel also paced the team with 28 strikeouts. Lefty Jack Pederson has been the second man in the rotation throughout the season, tossing 16 1/3 innings with a team-best 1.71 ERA. Tommie Martin came on strong at the end of the season, including a complete-game victory over Stevens over the weekend to lead the club with a paltry .179 batting average for opponents.

At the plate, underclassmen have really set the tone for the lineup, especially at the top of the order. Gabe Waldner began the season spending most of his time on the junior varsity squad, but his hot hitting and sure fielding earned him more playing time as the year went on, and Waldner is now the team leader with a .308 batting average. Jonathan “Bubba” Peterson is right behind Waldner at .306 while leadoff hitter and center fielder Trace Wenz is third on the team at .280.

Pederson has led the team this year in walks at the plate, drawing 10, with Martin right behind with nine. Outfielder Logan Leyendecker has paced the team in stolen bases, swiping 12 on the year.

While inconsistent defense and weather plagued the early part of the Tiger season, the team has been playing much better of late on defense.

“As a team, we need to play behind each other to help produce big outs,” Babl remarked. “Defensively, we are playing really well, which will be huge for us to make a run at this thing.”

Babl continued, “We will need to rely on our seniors and the experience from previous postseason play from others.”

Harrisburg drew the top seed in the Class A South Dakota High School Baseball Association playoffs and will face Washington. The winner of each best of three matchup will move on to the state tournament beginning May 24 at Sioux Falls Stadium.

Babl believes that his Tiger team has the mentality to advance.

“The mentality of our players this year has been not to give up,” he observed. “We have guys on the squad that really work hard, have a good approach at the plate, and work deep into the count.”

Babl concluded, “We have a ‘dog’ mentality, as the players call it, and as of late they have shown we can compete with anyone if we show up and play all phases of the game.”