Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

Dell Rapids got a 7-0 shutout win over Beresford at Rickeman Field on Wednesday, May 12th.  It was the third win in a row for Dell Rapids, and their fifth in their last six games.

The Dell Rapids defense got out of a first inning jam to start the game.  Beresford got their first batter of the game on base on a walk, but he was later picked off first by starting pitcher Jack Henry.  Beresford also had runners reach by an error and a single, but no runs were scored.

The score remained 0-0 until the bottom the third inning.  Aiden Boechler reached base on an error and was brought home by a single by Dylan Mathis.  Dell Rapids added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Kaeden Eastman started the inning with a single.  J. Henry drew a walk, and then Boechler hit a two-run triple to right field.  Will Jaton followed with an RBI single, and Dell Rapids led 4-0 after four innings of play.

Dell Rapids put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Austin Henry got a lead off single, Landon Ruesink followed with a single as well, and then K. Eastman walked to load the bases with no outs.  A. Henry scored on a passed ball, and Ruesink came home on an RBI sacrifice fly by J. Henry.  A. Boechler added an RBI single for the seventh run of the game.

Boechler had two hits, one of them a triple, and three RBIs in the game.  A. Henry had two hits.  Jaton and Mathis both finished with a hit and an RBI.  J. Henry also had an RBI.  Sutton Williams, Ruesink, and K. Eastman also all had hits in the game.

J. Henry pitched six innings giving up just three hits while walking two and striking out 10 batters.  Brady Larson pitched the final inning getting two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (13-6) will host Flandreau/Chester/Colman-Egan on Monday, May 17th, Tea Area on Tuesday, May 18th, and then Sioux Valley on Wednesday, May 19th to finish the regular season.

For four innings Dell Rapids and West Central were locked in a scoreless pitching duel at Rickeman Field on Monday, May 10th.  West Central finally broke the tie in the top of the fifth inning, but Dell Rapids scored three unanswered runs to win 3-1.

The two teams combined for just three hits through the first four innings of play.  Zach Madson led off the West Central fifth with a slow roller up the third base line for an infield single.  Madson advanced to third after an error on a throw over to first and then a passed ball.  Adam Parsons blooped a broken-bat single over a drawn-in infield for the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead for West Central.

Dell Rapids responded by getting the first three batters on base safely in the bottom of the fifth.  Brayden Pankonen drew a lead-off walk.  Austin Henry followed with a single, and Landon Ruesink tied the game with an RBI single.  A. Henry scored after an errant throw to second on a steal attempt by Ruesink.  That run gave Dell Rapids a 2-1 lead.  Dell Rapids added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Ruesink.

A. Henry pitched a complete game giving up a run on three hits with five walks and 14 strikeouts. 

Ruesink led the offense with two hits, one double, and two RBI.  Treyse Eastman, A. Henry, and Kaeden Eastman all had singles in the game.

Dell Rapids will host Beresford on Wednesday, May 12th.

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.