Dell Rapids PBR won their opening round game of the District 4B tournament in Colman on Saturday, July 24th. PBR entered the tournament as the sixth seed and played third-seeded Lennox. And just as they had done two other times this year, PBR got the best of Lennox with a 9-3 win.
It was a big seven-run top of the second inning that set the tone for PBR. Tanner Solberg got things going with a two-run single. Beau Behrend added an RBI single. Riley Calhoon reached on an error as both Solberg and Behrend scored on the play. Riley Hoffman followed with an RBI double, and Matt Gillogly had an RBI single to give PBR the 7-0 lead.
Lennox got two runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 7-2. The score remained 7-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning. Lennox picked up another run, but Dell Rapids added a run in the eighth when Carter Gullickson stole home, and then they got one more run in the ninth when David Kirby scored on a wild pitch.
Gullickson finished with three hits in the game. Solberg had two hits and two RBIs. Gillogly had two hits and an RBI. Kirby finished with two hits, one of them a double. Hoffman had a double and an RBI, and Behrend had a single and an RBI.
Trey Randel pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits with five walks and six strikeouts. Kirby pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing three walks while striking out three batters. Hoffman pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
PBR will play the Dell Rapids Mudcats in the semifinals on Tuesday, July 27th. First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. The winner will advance to the championship game and qualify for the state tournament. The loser will have three more chances to win one game to qualify for state as well.