The Dell Rapids 14U teener team recorded two more big wins on back-to-back nights.  Dell Rapids defeated West Central Royals 14U 18-3 on Wednesday, June 9th at Volunteer Field in Dell Rapids.  They followed that with an 16-0 win over Tea White 14U on Thursday, June 10th in Tea.

West Central had a 1-0 lead after the first inning.  Dell Rapids scored four times in the bottom of the second on an RBI fielder’s choice by Tad Tjaden, RBI single by Cole Ruesink, and two runs by errors.  After West Central scored two times in the top of the third to pull within in a run a 4-3, Dell Rapids added five runs in the bottom of the third, and then nine more in the bottom of the fourth to end the game on the 15-run rule.

Matthew Nelson had a two-run home run in the fourth inning.  Ruesink finished with two hits and two RBIs.  Talan Millage and Brandon Schmidt both had two hits and an RBI.  Kenny Swanson had a hit with two RBIs.  Quinn Carr also had a hit.  Cooper Frost and two RBIs.  Tjaden, Noah Larson, Connor Hanson, Tristan Welch, and Nick Snyder all had an RBI.  Carr pitched two innings giving up three earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts.  Frost pitched two innings allowing a hit and two walks while striking out four batters.

Dell Rapids’ offense stayed hot as they scored in every inning the 16-0 win over Tea on Thursday.  Dell Rapids scored three runs in the first, nine runs in the second, and four more in the third before the game was called after the third inning.  Nine different players had a hit in the game for Dell Rapids.

Nelson had a three-run home run in the second inning for his second home run on back-to-back nights.  Lincoln Fersdahl had two hits and an RBI.  Grady Lamer had a hit with two RBIs.  Ruesink and Millage both had a hit and an RBI.  Carr, Larson, Frost, and Ethan Vanderwerf all had hits in the game.  Carson Maeschen, Atticus Miles, Carson Crosby, and Swanson all had an RBI.  Tjaden pitched two innings without allowing a hit and had five strikeouts.  Fersdahl pitched the last inning striking out all three batters.

The Dell Rapids 14U team finished third at the I-29 League Tournament in Flandreau held Friday, June 4th through Sunday, June 6th.  Dell Rapids played a total of four games in Flandreau over the three days, finishing 3-1 for the third place finish.

The first game was against Garretson on Friday afternoon.  Dell Rapids had no trouble in the game.  They scored 11 times in just the first inning and ended the game in three innings by a score of 20-2.

Dell Rapids’ second game was Saturday morning.  Dell Rapids used two eight-run innings to defeat Tea Navy 14U 18-6.  Dell Rapids scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but Tea rallied to take a lead by the bottom of the second.  Tea led 3-2 heading into the third inning, but Dell Rapids scored eight times in the third and eight times in the fourth for their second win in the tournament.

Tri-Valley Maroon kept the Dell Rapids offense off-balance Saturday afternoon.  Tri-Valley led 2-0 after the top of the first inning, but Dell Rapids did score three times in the bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead.  Tri-Valley regained the lead in the top of the third at 5-3, and then added another run in the top of the fourth for a 6-3 advantage.  Dell Rapids was only able to scratch across one run in the bottom of the fifth in the loss.

Despite the loss to Tri-Valley, Dell Rapids qualified for the 3rd/4th place game against West Central Royal.  The two teams combined for 25 runs, and it was Dell Rapids that took the win 14-11.

Dell Rapids scored four times in the top of the first inning and then two more in the top of the second for an early 6-0 lead.  West Central came back with four in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 6-4.  After a single run by Dell Rapids in the top of the third, West Central scored three more times in the bottom of the inning to tie the game 7-7.  Dell Rapids got one more run in the top of the fourth inning for an 8-7 lead, but West Central again scored three times in their half of the inning for a 10-8 lead.  Dell Rapids took the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning.  They added three runs to pull ahead 11-10.  They scored three more times in the top of the seventh for a 14-10 lead before West Central scored just one run in the bottom of the inning.

Twelve players collected at least one hit over the four games.  Brandon Schmidt had six hits, one double, with eight RBIs.  Cooper Frost had five hits, one a double, and six RBIs.  Cole Ruesink had four hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Talan Millage also had four hits, with one double, and three RBIs.  Kenny Swanson had three hits.  Tad Tjaden finished with three hits, two of them doubles.  Carson Crosby and Ethan Vanderwerf both had two hits and an RBI.  Grady Lamer had two hits and two RBIs.  Lincoln Fersdahl finished with two hits and four RBIs.  Matthew Nelson had a hit and two RBIs.  Quinn Carr also had a hit and an RBI.  Nick Snyder had two RBIs.  Atticus Miles, Carson Maeschen, and Jack Patereson all had an RBI as well.

Ruesink pitched five innings over the games allowing six runs, four earned, on nine hits with six strikeouts and two walks.  Schmidt pitched four innings giving up 10 runs, but only two earned, on three hits with six walks and six strikeouts.  Fersdahl had three innings pitched allowing two runs, neither earned, on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts.  Millage pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing three runs, none earned, on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.  Crosby finished with two innings pitched allowing one earned run on one hit  with five walks and a strikeout.  Frost had 1 2/3 innings pitched with three earned runs on two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.  Lamer pitched one inning giving up just one walk.

The Dell Rapids 13/14 Teeners added two exhibition games against Brookings on Tuesday, June 1st.  The first game lasted five innings and the second game was four innings.  Dell Rapids had a chance to tie or win the game in the final inning in both games, but came up short in both.  Brookings won the first game 6-5 and took the second game 7-5.

Brookings scored the first five runs in the first two innings in the opening game, but Dell Rapids battled back strong.  They scored three times in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 5-3.  Brookings got a run in the top of the fourth.  Dell Rapids scored two times in the final inning, but the game ended with the tying run on third and the winning run on second.

Kenny Swanson had two hits and an RBI.  Jack Paterson, Connor Hanson, and Noah Larson all had a hit and RBI.  Carson Maeschen added a double in the game.

Both teams scored three runs each in the first inning of the second game.  Brookings scored two runs in the second and two more in the third for a 7-3 lead.  Dell Rapids again added two runs in the bottom of the final inning, and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Brookings was able to get a ground ball out to finish the game.

Atticus Miles and Hanson both had a hit and an RBI in the second game.  Tristan Welch, Logan Donovan, Miles, Larson, and Maeschen all scored runs in the game.

The Dell Rapids 13/14 Teener baseball team finished 1-2 in three games at a tournament in Brandon on Saturday, May 29th and Sunday, May 30th.  Dell Rapids played two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday.

In the opening game of the tournament, Dell Rapids lost to Brandon Valley 14U by a score of 8-5.  With the game tied 1-1 after two innings, Brandon Valley scored seven times in the bottom of the third for an 8-1 lead.  Dell Rapids scored four times in the top of the fifth inning, but they were unable to complete the comeback.

Tad Tjaden, Lincoln Fersdahl, and Grady Lamer each had a hit in the game.  Fersdahl also had an RBI.  Cooper Frost pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up eight runs, four earned, on two hits with six walks and four strikeouts.  Talan Millage pitched 1 1/3 innings and didn’t allow a hit while walking three and striking out two.

Dell Rapids then played Harrisburg 14U Maroon, but again came up a little short as they fell by a score of 8-6.  Dell Rapids had a lead of 2-1 and 5-3, but Harrisburg scored five times in the bottom of the third inning, which was enough to hold the lead for the win.

Fersdahl, Frost, and Millage all had two hits in the game.  Millage had a double and an RBI.  Lamer had a double and two RBIs.  Kenny Swanson also finished with a hit and RBI.  Tjaden pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing eight runs, four earned, on three hits with eight walks and seven strikeouts.  Millage again pitched the final 1 1/3 innings allowing two hits with one walk and one strikeout.

In their only game on Sunday, Dell Rapids scored in every inning and got a 14-3 win over Sioux City.  Dell Rapids scored four runs in the first, two in the second, three in the third, and five in the fourth inning.

Fersdahl had two hits and two RBIs.  Millage had two hits and an RBI.  Frost finished with one hit and three RBIs.  Cole Ruesink had a double and two RBIs.  Tjaden had a hit and RBI, and Ethan Vanderwerf also had a hit.  Fersdahl pitched three innings giving up one run, which was unearned, on one hit with one walk and four strikeouts.  Ruesink pitched the final inning allowing two runs, both unearned, on one hit with one strikeout.

The Dell Rapids 13/14 Teeners rode another early lead to victory on Tuesday, May 25th.  Dell Rapids scored eight runs in the first two innings and defeated Hills-Beaver Creek Red 12-4 in Hills.

Dell Rapids scored three times in the first inning.  Tad Tjaden scored on a steal of home, and Quinn Carr and Matthew Nelson both had RBI ground outs.  They then added five more runs in the top of the second inning, all with two outs.  Carr had an RBI single, Nelson brought home a run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Cole Ruesink scored on a passed ball, and Cooper Frost brought home two runners with a double.

Dell Rapids was able to add a run in the top of the third, one in the fifth, one in the sixth, and one more in the seventh.  They had a total of 13 hits while holding HBC-Red to just one hit.

Carr had two hits, including a home run in the top of the seventh inning, and three RBIs.  Frost had two doubles and two RBIs.  Nelson had two RBIs, and Noah Larson also had an RBI.  Tjaden finished with three hits, including a double.  Kenny Swanson had a two hits, one of them a double.  Ruesink, Lincoln Fersdahl, Brandon Schmidt, and Ethan Vanderwerf all had a hit in the game as well.

Ruesink pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one earned run on one hit with five walks and four strikeouts.  Fersdahl pitched three innings allowing two earned runs on no hits with seven walks and seven strikeouts.  Talan Millage pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up no hits with one walk and four strikeouts.