Dell Rapids and Tri-Valley split two games in a best-of-three series in Region 1A in Colton on Sunday, July 28th. The hosts won the first game, and Dell Rapids took the second game to set up a winner-take-all championship game on Monday, July 29th.
Tri-Valley 6, Dell Rapids 2
An early lead helped Tri-Valley to take the first game. Dell Rapids did score first in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead. Tri-Valley scored twice in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead 2-1. They added another run in the bottom of the second for a 3-1 score. Tri-Valley had another two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth and added another run in the fifth for a 6-1 advantage. Dell Rapids scored one time in the top of the seventh.
Gauge Bunkers finished with a single and an RBI. Kenny Swanson had a double. Jackson Peppel and Jake Heinitz each had a single. Connor Hanson pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on three hits and four walks with four strikeouts. Bunkers pitched 1 2/3 innings and recorded a strikeout.
Dell Rapids 11, Tri-Valley 6
Dell Rapids erased a 5-0 deficit with a big inning to take the second game. Tri-Valley scored single runs in the first three innings and then had two runs in the top of the fourth for a 5-0 lead. Dell Rapids then scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 10-5 lead. Each team scored a run in the sixth inning.
Tommy LaVoy had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Bunkers also had two hits and two RBIs. Jace Brende had a double with an RBI. Ryan Stubbe and Heinitz both had a single and an RBI. Carson Maeschen and Swanson both had one RBI each. Peppel pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Stubbe pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed a hit and a walk.
