The Dell Rapids Mudcats had their trip to the 2020 South Dakota Class B Amateur Baseball Tournament end on Thursday, August 13th in Mitchell. The Mudcats were defeated by the eventual state champions Alexandria Angels.
The state tournament started on Wednesday, August 5th for the Mudcats. Dell Rapids opened the tournament against the Plankinton Bankers and moved to the next round with a 14-1 victory.
The Mudcats broke the game open in the fifth and sixth innings. Leading 1-0, Dell Rapids scored two times in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth to push their lead to 8-0. They went on to outscore Plankinton 6-1 over the final two innings to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Grant Olson had three hits and two RBIs in the game. Chad Hunt, Mark Houck, and Trevor Freudenthal all had two hits each. Jimmy Bauer, Josh Roemen, and Dan Gacke also had a hit. Bauer and Houck both had three RBIs in the game. Dalton Allen pitched seven innings giving up one earned run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. John Spaeth pitched the final inning giving up no hits.
The Mudcats followed that win with another big win in the second round. Dell Rapids defeated Groton 14-0 on Sunday, August 9th in seven innings. Nine different players recorded a hit in the game. Roemen and Houck both had three hits each. Hunt, Freudenthal, Blake Svoboda, Elijah Story, and Mark Abrahamson all had two hits each. Bauer and Grant Olson both had a hit. Bauer, Roemen, Houck, Freudenthal, and Olson all had two RBIs each. Abrahamson pitched all seven innings giving up just one hit while striking out 11 batters.
Dell Rapids then fell to Alexandria 11-6 on Thursday, August 13th in the quarterfinal round. Alexandria jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. The Mudcats cut the lead to 3-1 after the third inning. The Angels tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead 6-1. The Mudcats tried to keep it close by getting two runs in the top of the fifth, but Alexandria responded with five in the bottom of the inning to lead 11-3. Dell Rapids rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth.
Bauer and Roemen both had two hits and two RBIs. Olson also had two hits. Houck had a hit with two RBIs. Hunt and Abrahamson both finished with a hit in the game. Allen pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up 11 runs, six earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts. Spaeth pitched 3 1/3 innings giving no hits while striking out five batters.