ABERDEEN - The 83rd edition of the South Dakota American Legion State A Tournament begins Wednesday morning at Aberdeen's Fossum Field with Rapid City Post 22 meeting Watertown Post 17 in a 9 a.m. MDT matchup. That Post 22 appears in the first game of the 2008 state A is perhaps most appropriate since it has dominated South Dakota Legion baseball during the 44 years of head coach Dave Ploof's tenure capturing 32 state championships in that span.

Rapid City Post 22 (31-29) captured the Region 3A crown in Pierre last week, while Watertown (23-18), coached by Tony Beste, comes into the championships as the Region 1A runner-up. Other first round Wednesday games include Region 1A champ Mitchell (28-25) versus Region 2A runner-up Yankton (31-15) in a 11:30 a.m. contest, Rapid City Post 320 (43-14) meeting Class B champion Parkston at 4 p.m., and defending state champion and Region 2A champion, Sioux Falls West, playing the host Aberdeen Smittys at 7:30 p.m.

Ploof enters this year's state tournament with a young team that has struggled with consistency throughout the season. Ploof, nonetheless, remains confident that his young team is ready to compete for another state crown.

"We're healthy and ready to play baseball," he said.

Nor is he much concerned that his team might not be picked as the favorite this year.

"We don't look at teams as favorites or underdogs. We just look at what we have to do to be successful and go out there and compete at the hardest level we can and try to do things more correctly than our opponents," he said. "We do that and winning will take care of itself."

His 32 state titles lend merit to his approach.

Sioux Falls West comes in minus last year's Legion Class A player of the year, Trey Krier, who won two games in last year's tournament including the clinching 3-2 final game win over Rapid City Post 22. Despite the loss of Krier, West Coach Josh Merrigan remains optimistic.

"We don't have the veteran three- or four-year players we had last year, or the depth of that team," he said. "But we have six starters back, and a couple of new kids who have pitched well for us. Brian Duxbury and Ryan Hander have been pretty consistent all year."

Offensively, shortstop/pitcher Sam Lind has been very effective both in the field and at bat. A key to West success might be the successful return of slugger Erik DeJong, who suffered a fractured ankle during the season and is just working his way back into top form.

Merrigan does not see a truly dominant team this year.

"I don't see a big time favorite. The last couple years the final games have come down to us, Post 22 and Aberdeen and might again. Aberdeen has had a good year, beaten most of the teams in the state and are playing at home and sleeping in their own beds which might make the difference."

Aberdeen, the tournament host, comes in with a solid record (36-17) and one of the best all-around players in the state, catcher Justin Kline who hit .531 and sported an ERA of 1.31 in situational duty. Center fielder Shane Cunningham is also a threat at the plate, hitting .406 on the season.

On the mound, Sam Heintzman (11-1) and Taylor Morshing (7-1) both compiled ERAs under 3.00.

Mitchell, the Region 1A champion, despite having an up and down season, does feature two of the state's better players in Brett Young and Jason Schmidt. Both are excellent all around players and quality pitchers capable of keeping their team in any game.

Rapid City Post 320, who lost to Post 22 7-2 in the 3A Region title game, returns to the Class A tourney after a one year absence. Head coach Jim Brandt's squad recorded the best record (43-14) in the state during the regular season. Brandt says that his team is hitting the ball well and playing steady defense and will be a threat if the pitching staff can step up to tournament pressure. His greatest concern remains the health of staff ace, Adam Carroll, who suffered a late season non-baseball related shoulder injury from which is he is still recovering.

Post 320's first round opponent, Parkston, winner of its second successive Class B title, is an intriguing entry. Tom Murtha is one of the best pitchers in the state, and Brady Nolz and Tyson Gau are excellent pitchers as well.

While they did not hit the ball particularly well in the State B, Murtha and Gau were virtually unhittable. Parkston will be an interesting team to watch. And they, like Post 22, Sioux Falls West and Mitchell come into the tourney with unbeaten postseason records and tons of confidence.

Yankton fashioned one of the better records in the state

(31-15) against excellent competition, and in Layne Somsen has one of South Dakota's premier pitchers. Watertown had a so-so season record-wise and was beaten decisively by Mitchell in their region which perhaps slides them into the dark horse category.

The state tournament, a double-elimination tournament, continues from Wednesday through Sunday with the championship game to be contested Sunday afternoon.