The Dell Rapids high school baseball team won a defensive battle, 3-2, against the Hanson/Bridgewater-Emery (HBE) Bulldogs on Wednesday, May 3rd. This was the seventh straight win for Dell Rapids.
Dell Rapids took advantage of a couple of Bulldog errors in the top of the first inning. Treyse Eastman drew a bases-loaded walk to score Mason Stubbe for an early 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bulldogs got a run on a wild pitch to tie the game 1-1. The score remained 1-1 heading into the seventh inning.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Stubbe reached on an error that also scored Joe Rechtenbaugh. Jack Henry followed with a single. Braden Pankonen scored on an error on the play to give Dell Rapids a 3-1 lead. HBE scored one run in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly. With two outs and runners on first and second, an error was made at third base by Dell Rapids, but the runner was thrown out at home trying to score from second on the error to end the game.
Dylan Mathis had two singles in the game. Pankonen, Henry, and Rechtenbaugh all had one hit each. T. Eastman had the only RBI in the game. Rechtenbaugh pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing an earned run on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Pankonen pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing an unearned run on two hits with one strikeout.
