A fourth-inning grand slam home run by Dylan Mathis electrified the Dell Rapids players and fans and helped spark a 9-5 win over Lennox on Sunday, May 9th in Lennox.

Lennox got a two runs in the bottom of the second inning to break the scoreless tie.  One run scored on a passed ball, and the other scored on a double to give Lennox a 2-0 lead after three innings of play.

Dell Rapids took advantage of a two-out error by Lennox in the top of the third inning.  Austin Henry followed the error with an RBI single, only the second hit of the game to that point for Dell Rapids.  That run scored made the score 2-1.

The offense then came alive for Dell Rapids in the top of the fourth inning.  Jack Henry hit a one-out single to deep shortstop.  After a passed ball, Aiden Boechler followed with a single to left field.  Will Jaton drew a walk to load the bases with one out.  Mathis then connected on a 2-0 pitch and sent the ball over the left field fence for the grand slam home run to give Dell Rapids a 5-2 lead.  The home run also fired up the Dell Rapids defense.

Lennox put together a threat in the bottom of the fifth after a lead-off single followed by a walk.  A. Henry was able to get a force out at third base on an attempted bunt, keeping runners at just first and second.  The next batter lined a single to center field to load the bases for Lennox with just one out.  Dell Rapids then pulled off a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning to keep the score 5-2.  Lennox did scratch another run across the plate in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-3 heading into the final inning.

Dell Rapids then started the seventh inning with three straight hits and then a Lennox error, and all of the sudden Dell Rapids was ahead 8-3.  J. Henry scored on a wild pitch to make the score 9-3.  Lennox did get a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as Dell Rapids finished the game there at 9-5.

Mathis finished 1-3 at the plate with the home run and four RBIs.  A. Henry had three hits, including a double, and an RBI.  Landon Ruesink had a double.  Kaeden Eastman finished with two hits and two RBIs.  J. Henry had three hits in the game.  Treyse Eastman, Boechler, and Jaton each had a single.

Brayden Pankonen pitched six innings giving up three runs, all earned, on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.  Ruesink pitched the final inning giving up two runs, both earned, on a hit with two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (11-6 overall, 10-3 versus Class B, 6-0 versus Region 3B teams) will host West Central in a region game on Monday, May 10th.

With two outs and runners on second and third, trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, Jake Jensen smacked a line drive to right field off of Austin Henry scoring the game-winning run to give Vermillion a 3-2 win over Dell Rapids on Friday, May 7th in Vermillion.

Vermillion did score the first run of the game after Jensen reached on a fielding error allowing Conner Saunders to score in the bottom of the third inning.  Dell Rapids took the lead in the top of the fifth inning after Kaeden Eastman hit an RBI single and then later scored on an RBI single by Dylan Mathis.  The score remained 2-1 in favor of Dell Rapids heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Vermillion got a lead-off single to start the seventh inning.  Saunders was out on a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to second.  A dropped third strike allowed the next batter to reach, and both runners advanced putting the runners on second and third.  A. Henry got a strikeout of the next batter on a dropped third strike, but both runners held their base putting Vermillion at two outs.  That’s when Jensen came to the plate and then hit the game-winning single.

Treyse Eastman, A. Henry, and Aiden Boechler all had two hits in the game.  K. Eastman had a hit and RBI.  Mathis also had a hit and RBI.  Will Jaton picked up a single in the game.

T. Eastman pitched the first two innings and did not allow a hit while walking two and striking out two.  Jack Henry pitched four innings giving up two runs, both unearned, on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts.  A. Henry took the loss pitching 2/3 of an inning giving up an unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts.