The Dell Rapids 14U baseball team played at the South Dakota VFW Class A state tournament in Chamberlain Friday, July 17th through Sunday, July 19th. Dell Rapids fell in both of their games in the tournament.
Dell Rapids opened the tournament on Friday against Elk Point-Jefferson. Elk Point-Jefferson used a five-run fifth inning to get an 8-3 victory over Dell Rapids. Dell Rapids scored first with two runs in the top of the first inning. They extended their lead to 3-0 after a run in the top of the third inning. Elk Point-Jefferson got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2. Then they scored five runs in the fifth and got another run in the bottom of the sixth for the win.
Six different players collected hits for Dell Rapids. Grady Lamer had two hits. Talan Millage and Quinn Carr each had a hit and an RBI. Cole Ruesink, Tad Tjaden, and Cooper Frost also had hits. Ethan Vanderwerf picked up an RBI. Tjaden pitched four innings giving up four runs, one earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Lincoln Fersdahl pitched an inning giving up three runs, none of them earned, on two walks and two strikeouts. Carr pitched one inning giving up an earned run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Dell Rapids then played Madison Gold in the consolation bracket on Saturday. Madison ended the tournament for Dell Rapids and advanced to the consolation championship with an 11-1 win. Dell Rapids again scored first in the top of the first inning, but Madison answered with a run in the bottom of the inning for a 1-1 tie. Madison’s offense then came alive with two runs in the third inning, three in the fourth, four more in the fifth inning, and the final run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Fersdahl had the only two hits in the game for Dell Rapids. Carr pitched four innings giving up six runs, five earned, on four hits with six walks and eight strikeouts. Ruesink pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up five runs, four earned, on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Assistant Coach Steve Millage said, “The state tournament didn’t turn out how we had hoped, but we were pleased to qualify with such a young group. We gained a lot of experience playing in the state tournament, and hopefully that helps us in the future.”