After starting the 2022 season with a 15-0 win over Colton (June 6th), the Dell Rapids Legion baseball team went 3-2 in a tournament in Yankton held Friday, June 10th through Sunday, June 12th.
Dell Rapids 13, Hartington 1
Dell Rapids had two big innings in their first game of the tournament on Friday. They scored eight times in the bottom of the first inning and then five more in the bottom of the fourth for a 13-1 win. Will Jaton pitched all four innings allowing an unearned run on just one hit with two strikeouts.
Braden Fersdahl had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. CJ Smith had two hits, one a triple. Jaton also had a triple with two RBIs. Mason Stubbe, Sutton Williams, and Joe Rechtenbaugh all had a hit and RBI. Brayden Pankonen and Treyse Eastman each had an RBI.
Dell Rapids 4, Crofton NE 2
Two runs in the top of the second inning and another in the fourth gave Dell Rapids enough of a lead for the win against Crofton on Friday.
Williams and Pankonen each had RBI singles for an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. Pankonen added an RBI single in the fourth. Crofton got one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Dell Rapids scored their fourth run in the top of the fifth when Rechtenbaugh was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Crofton’s final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Pankonen had two hits and two RBIs. Rechtenbaugh also had two hits and an RBI. Williams added a single and RBI. Eastman finished with a triple. Stubbe and Jack Henry both had a single. Rechtenbaugh pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit and three walks with five strikeouts. Pankonen pitched 1/3 of an inning.
Dell Rapids 11, Elkton 0
Dell Rapids scored in all but two innings and collected eight hits while holding Elkton to just three hits on Saturday. Two runs were scored in the top of the second, two in the top of the third, and another in the top of the fifth for a 5-0 lead. Dell Rapids then scored six more times in the top of the sixth inning.
Stubbe had two hits in the game. Dylan Mathis had a double and two RBIs. Eastman and Smith each had a single and two RBIs. Williams finished with a double and an RBI. Rechtenbaugh collected a single and an RBI. Henry finished with a single. Jaton and Fersdahl both had an RBI. Eastman pitched all six innings and allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Tabor 2, Dell Rapids 1
Tabor got a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-1 win on Saturday.
The first run was scored by Tabor in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI sacrifice bunt. Dell Rapids tied the game in the top of the third. Fersdahl scored on an error by the third baseman to make the score 1-1. That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the seventh. Tabor got two runners on by walks, and then the RBI single came with two outs for the win.
Pankonen and Henry each had two singles. Eastman had the only other hit for Dell Rapids. Henry pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing two earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out 10 batters. Pankonen allowed one hit.
Yankton 7, Dell Rapids 5
In the final game of the tournament for Dell Rapids on Sunday, the two teams combined for eight runs in the final two innings as Yankton held off Dell Rapids for a 7-5 win.
Yankton scored a run in the top of the first inning, but Dell Rapids tied the game in the bottom of the second. Eastman scored Stubbe on an RBI ground out. Yankton took the lead again with a run in the top of the third, but Dell Rapids tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth. Aiden Boechler scored on an error for a 2-2 score.
The score remained 2-2 until the top of the sixth inning. Yankton scored two times in their half of the inning. Dell Rapids got one run back on an RBI single by Mathis. Yankton led 4-3 heading into the seventh inning. A solo home run, a score on a wild pitch, and an RBI sacrifice fly for Yankton gave them a 7-3 lead. Landon Ruesink and Boechler each had an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 7-5. Dell Rapids still had the bases loaded with two outs, but the game ended on a strikeout.
Henry finished with three hits in the game. Mathis and Boechler each had two singles and an RBI. Jaton had two hits. Ruesink had a hit and an RBI. Eastman also had an RBI. Ruesink pitched 6 1/3 innings allowing six runs, five earned, on 11 hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Jaton pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing an earned run on two hits.