The Dell Rapids Mudcats entered the District 4B Tournament as the #5 seed. Their opening round game was against #4 Flandreau Cardinals on Saturday, July 26th. The Mudcats rallied later in the game to take a 14-9 come-from-behind win over the Cardinals.
Flandreau got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Josh Roemen put the Mudcats in front with a two-run single in the top of the third inning. Flandreau regained the lead, 6-2, with a five-run bottom of the fourth inning. Ty Hoglund hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth, and Austin Henry added an RBI single later in the inning to make the score 6-4.
Carter Gullickson pulled the Mudcats within a run, 6-5, with an RBI single in the top of the sixth. Henry hit a three-run home run on the very next pitch to put Dell Rapids ahead 8-6. The offense kept rolling in the seventh. Hoglund had an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball and Gullickson added an RBI double to push the lead to 10-6. Flandreau made things interesting by scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth to pull within a run, 10-9. Roemen delivered the big blow in the top of the ninth. He smacked a grand slam home run to right field to extend the lead to 14-9.
Gullickson had four hits, three of them doubles, and two RBIs. Hoglund had three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. Roemen had a single and home run with six RBIs. Henry also finished with a single and home run and four RBIs. Treyese Eastman had two hits, including a double. Sutton Williams and Grant Olson each had two singles.
Eastman pitched seven innings and allowed eight earned runs on eight hits and three walks with one strikeout. Chad Hunt pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed a hit and two walks with one strikeout. Henry pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed an earned run on four walks.
