The Dell Rapids Phils qualified for the state tournament with a Region 2B championship on Thursday, July 23rd in Sioux Falls.
Dell Rapids 7, Colton 4
In the semifinals Dell Rapids scored three times in the top of the seventh to advance to the championship game. Jake Heinitz scored on a wild pitch in the top of the second to give Dell Rapids a 1-0 lead. Heinitz then had an RBI single in the top of the fourth followed by an RBI sacrifice fly by Haiden Kaffar to push the lead to 3-0. Colton tied the score 3-3 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Yard Goats took the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Heinitz scored on an error in the top of the sixth to tie the game 4-4. In the top of the seventh, AJ Brandenburg had an RBI single to give Dell Rapids a 5-4 lead. Kenny Swanson followed with an RBI triple and then scored on an RBI ground out by Ryan Brandenburg for a 7-4 score.
Swanson had two hits, one a triple, and an RBI. AJ Brandenburg, Heinitz, and Kaffar all had a hit and RBI each. Tommy LaVoy also had a single. Eli Gullickson pitched four innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Gauge Bunkers tossed three innings and allowed an earned run on a hit and walk with a strikeout.
Dell Rapids 5, Sioux Falls Chargers, 4
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Kaffar drove Bunkers with a single to center field to give Dell Rapids a 5-4 walk-off win in the championship game to advance to the state tournament. R. Brandenburg put Dell Rapids on the board first with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Bunkers also had an RBI single to make the score 2-0. Sioux Falls tied the game, 2-2, with two runs in the top of the third. AJ Brandenburg had an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Swanson drew a bases-loaded walk to put Dell Rapids back in front, 4-2. Sioux Falls picked up a run in the top of the fifth and then tied the game, 4-4, with another run in the top of the sixth.
Kaffar finished with three hits and an RBI. AJ Brandenburg and Bunkers both had two hits and an RBI. R. Brandenburg added a single with an RBI. R. Brandenburg pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with three strikeouts. Connor Hanson tossed 2 2.3 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on a hit and three walks with four strikeouts.
