Wynot Expos are ready for a new season

WYNOT — The Wynot Expos are hoping to keep things trending in the positive direction once the new baseball campaign gets rolling.

The South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association’s South Central League opened up amateur league play Sunday and the Expos kicked off their campaign Tuesday at Tabor and travel to Lesterville Thursday.

All games start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted.

Wynot and the league will battle it out through July 16 with the South Dakota Class B State Tournament beginning Aug. 5.

Wynot found its way to the state tournament last year, winning the district postseason tournament as the third seed at home.

“That was the first time we had held districts in Wynot so that was pretty neat,” Lee Heimes, Wynot’s player coach said. “We had never had the grass infield before this. We were the last team put on the list to host it and finally got to when we got that infield.” Everyone but one player returns to the

Everyone but one player returns to the team, so the expectations are high with six talented youths coming up to play, including some American Legion performers who have come of age.

Players range in age from 19 to 45. Wynot won the state title in 2014 under Heimes and also captured a crown in 1999. They were runners-up in 2006 and 2008.

“A lot of the core guys are back,” said Heimes, who has coached the team since 2013. “It’s mostly guys from Wynot and the surrounding areas. We have a radius we can go for 25 miles.”

Those guys that make up the team are a competitive bunch that will be able to do things aplenty around the diamond.

“We have some good pitchers that are guys who love to compete, have fun and throw strikes,” Heimes said. “We have pretty good defense and timely hitting.”

Some of Heimes’ key hurlers include Jackson Sudbeck and Jalen Wieseler. “Those guys are still young and learning

“Those guys are still young and learning how to pitch while coming in to their own,” Heimes said. “They are able to play at a high level.”

Dawson Sudbeck is a key cog at catcher – his third year in the position – and up the middle the Expos shortstop being Sudbeck or Wieseler and centerfielder, Heimes himself.

The hitting attack is consistent and speed on the basepaths will only help with the Expos’ ability to hit the gaps as they will try to manufacture runs more so than look for the multiple big bops nightly.

“We can put the pressure on people and steal some bases when we get runners on base,” Heimes said. “I just want us to go out and compete. It’s different this season, because normally we would have played a lot of games already, but because of the COVID virus, things have been pushed back,” he said.

Besides the veteran crew returning, the Expos are also bringing along a fresh new crop of talent.

“We’ve got a lot of guys we need to develop and be patient about it while we try to peek at the end of the year,” he said.

The Expos roster includes: Lee Heimes, Dain Whitmire, Bradley Howe, Justin Lange, Nate Wieseler, Landon Wieseler, Jalen Wieseler, Ryan Eskens, Kyle Wiepen, Ryan Heimes, Brett Wiebelhaus, Turner Korth, Devon Lammers, Austin Lange, Scott Morrison, Jackson Sudbeck, Dawson Sudbeck, Clif Kephart, Don Whitemire, David Schenk and Lucas Thingstad.

“The best part about it is that the players you play with and against, it is highly competitive,” Heimes said. “Yet, it’s fun. People compete hard and at the end shake hands and say, ‘good job.’”

Canova is the defending state champions and Heimes cites them and Alexandria as the top dogs, while Menno and Tabor will be the biggest threats to the South Central crown.