The Dell Rapids 16U baseball team rebounded from a heart-breaking opening round loss to finish fifth at the 2021 South Dakota VFW Class A State Tournament held Friday, August 6th through Sunday, August 8th in Madison.

Dell Rapids opened the tournament on Friday against Dakota Valley, the eventual state champions, losing in a heart-breaker 4-3.  Will Jaton put Dell Rapids on the board first with a two-run single in the top of the first inning. Dakota Valley scored one in the bottom of the inning, giving Dell Rapids a 2-1 lead after one complete inning.  CJ Smith had an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning to push the lead to 3-1.  Dakota Valley answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth, and Dell Rapids led 3-2 heading into the final inning.  Dell Rapids was held scoreless in their half of the seventh.  But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Dakota Valley got the tying run on a passed ball, and the winning run scoring on a single.

Jaton had a single and two RBIs in the game.  Smith had a single and an RBI.  Aiden Boechler had a double.  Brayden Pankonen and Dylan Mathis each had a single.  Pankonen pitched six innings allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.  Joe Rechtenbaugh pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits with a walk.

Dell Rapids held off a late rally by Madison White to win their second game of the tournament, 8-7, on Saturday.  Dell Rapids scored first again in the top of the first inning when Boechler scored on an error.  Madison tied the game in the bottom of the first.  Madison would take a short-lived lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning.  Dell Rapids scored three times in the top of the third inning.  Mathis, Smith, and Sutton Williams all had RBI singles to give Dell Rapids a 4-2 lead.  They would score three more times in the top of the fourth inning.  Jaton had a two-run single followed by an RBI ground out by Mathis to push the lead to 7-2.  Madison would get two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 7-4.  Dell Rapids got a big insurance run in the top of the seventh.  Rechtenbaugh had an RBI ground out to put Dell Rapids ahead 8-4.  That RBI proved to be the difference as Madison scored three times and had the bases loaded before the final out was recorded.

Brayden Fersdahl and Boechler each had two hits.  Jaton and Mathis both had a single and two RBIs.  Smith, Williams, and Rechtenbaugh all had one hit and one RBI in the game.  Jaton pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.  Smith got the final out on a strikeout, but also allowed three walks.

In the consolation championship game on Sunday, Dell Rapids rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and then got one run in the bottom of the eighth to get a walk-off 7-6 win over Volga to take fifth place in the tournament.  Volga put the pressure on Dell Rapids right away with a five-run top of the first inning.  Dell Rapids got three runs back in the bottom of the third inning.  John Mortrude scored on a wild pitch, Evan Nelson scored on a passed ball, and Boechler had an RBI single.  The score remained 5-3 until the seventh inning.  Volga added a run in the top of the inning to make it a 6-3 ballgame.  Dell Rapids then put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh.  The first three batters reached, and then Mortrude reached on an error scoring Smith.  Ethan Kringen had the game-tying, two-run single to tie the game at 6-6 and force extra innings.

Volga nearly took the lead in the top of the eighth inning.  After two one-out walks, a single to center field nearly drove home a run, but Micah Pickard hit the cutoff man Jaton, who relayed the ball home to Williams to get a runner out a home for the second out.  The next batter lined out to Fersdahl in left to end the inning for Volga.  With momentum on their side, Mathis laced a one-out triple to center field.  Smith followed with a ground ball to shortstop that scored Mathis from third as the winning run in the game.

Kringen had a hit and two RBIs.  Smith and Boechler each had a single and an RBI.  Mathis finished with a triple.  Fersdahl, Williams, and Rechtenbaugh each had a single as well.  Mortrude finished with an RBI.  Rechtenbaugh pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing five runs, all unearned, on four hits with five walks and two strikeouts.  Smith pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up an earned run on three hits with three walks.

With only 12 total teams registered in 16U Class A in South Dakota VFW baseball, it was decided to break those teams into two regions of six teams each.  Four of the six teams in each region would qualify for the state tournament.

After a loss in the opening round on Monday, Dell Rapids 16U rebounded with a 13-2 victory over Tea in their first game on Tuesday, July 27th.  That win put Dell Rapids into the state tournament as one of the top four teams from Region 2A.

Tea scored first in the bottom of the first inning, but Dell Rapids then scored 10 unanswered runs over the next three innings, including an eight-run top of the fourth.  Dell Rapids would get three more runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Braden Fersdahl had two hits, a triple and a double, with two RBIs.  Brayden Pankonen had a hit and three RBIs.  Joe Rechtenbaugh had a double and two RBIs.  CJ Smith finished with a single and two RBIs.  Will Jaton, Sutton Williams and Ethan Kringen all had a hit in the game as well.  Jaton pitched the five inning complete game allowing two runs, neither of them earned, on two hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

After the win earlier in the day, Dell Rapids faced Volga in the final game of the day at Rickeman Field.  Volga jumped out to a six run lead after the first two innings.  Dell Rapids tried to climb back into the game getting a run in the top of the third, two more in the fourth, and one in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4.  Volga, however, scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning and  then had another three-run inning in the bottom of the sixth for a 12-5 victory.

John Mortrude had three hits and an RBI.  Aiden Boechler had two hits, one of them a double, and two RBIs.  Williams had two hits.  Pankonen also had a hit in the game.  Jaton finished with an RBI.  Fersdahl pitched three innings allowing six earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts.  Smith pitched three innings also allowing six earned runs on five hits and two walks.

Dell Rapids will play in the 2021 South Dakota 16U Class A state tournament held in Madison August 6th through 8th.

A run in the seventh to tie the game and then two more in the top of the eighth gave Madison Black 16U a 6-4 victory over Dell Rapids in Region 2A play on Monday, July 26th at Rickeman Field in Dell Rapids.

Madison Black started the game with a run in the top of the first inning.  They added another in the top of the third, but Dell Rapids got one run back in the bottom of the third.  Aiden Boechler had an RBI ground out to cut the lead to 2-1.  Madison picked up their third run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. 

Dell Rapids then put together a three-run bottom of the fourth to take the lead 4-3.  Brayden Pankoneen had an RBI single in the inning.  Braden Fersdahl scored on a balk, and then Boechler reached on an error that also scored Pankonen.  The score remained 4-3 in favor of Dell Rapids until the top of the seventh with one out.  Madison got the tying run on an error.  Boechler laced a double to center field to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Boechler only made it as far as third base as the next three batters got out.  That forced the game into extra innings, but Madison scored two times in the top of the eighth inning to get the 6-4 win. 

Pankonen finished with two hits and an RBI.  Boechler had a double and an RBI.  Will Jaton also had a double.  Fersdahl, Dylan Mathis, and Sutton Williams all had a single.  Pankonen pitched five innings allowing three earned runs on 11 hits with a walk and two strikeouts.  Joe Rechtenbaugh pitched three innings allowing three runs, two earned, on two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Dell Rapids will play Tea in an elimination game on Tuesday, July 27th at 1:00 p.m. at Rickeman Field.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
Madison Black 16U	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	6	13	3
Dell Rapids 16U	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	4	7	8

The Dell Rapids 16U baseball team had their final regular season game on Thursday, July 22nd.  Dell Rapids hosted Hamlin and a got a 12-0 shutout win, ending the game on the 10-run rule in five innings.

Dell Rapids had back-to-back six-run innings in the first and second innings.  In the first inning Aiden Boechler had a two-run double, Will Jaton reached on an error scoring Boechler, Joe Rechtenbaugh had an RBI single, Dylan Mathis stole home, and John Mortrude scored on a wild pitch. 

Jaton doubled home the first two runs on the second inning, Mathis had an RBI triple and later scored, Aiden Geraets had an RBI double, and Evan Nelson also had an RBI single.

Boechler had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs.  Mathis also had two hits, one a triple, and an RBI.  Jaton finished with a double and three RBIs.  Geraets had a double and an RBI.  Rechtenbaugh and Nelson both had RBI singles, and Brayden Pankonen also had a hit.

Rechtenbaugh pitched two innings allowing three hits while strikeout out two batters.  Pankonen pitched two innings without allowing a hit and striking out three batters.  Nelson pitched one inning and struck out two batters.

Dell Rapids finishes the regular season with a 15-4 record.  They will host the Region 2A tournament Monday, July 26th through Thursday, July 29th at Rickeman Field.  The top four teams of the six-team regional tournament will advance to the state tournament.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Hamlin 16U	0	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	3	1
Dell Rapids 16U	6	6	0	0	X	X	X	12	10	0

Madison scored in every inning except for one and scored 10 runs before Dell Rapids was able to get on the board in an 18-2 win on Monday, July 19th in Dell Rapids.

Madison got two runs right away in the top of the first.  They had back-to-back three-run innings in the second and third innings, and then scored two more times in the top of the fourth for a 10-0 lead.  Dell Rapids got their two runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Braden Fersdahl had an RBI single, and Aiden Boechler followed with an RBI triple.  Madison, however, scored eight more times in the top of the sixth inning and the game ended after six innings on the 10-run rule.

Fersdahl finished with two hits and an RBI.  Boechler had the triple and an RBI.  Joe Rechtenbaugh, Ethan Kringen, and Evan Nelson all had a single in the game.  Will Jaton pitched three innings allowing eight runs, three earned, on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.  Fersdahl pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing nine runs, three earned, on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.  Dylan Mathis pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up an unearned run on three hits.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Madison Black 16U	2	3	3	2	0	8	X	18	15	2
Dell Rapids 16U	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	2	6	10

Dell Rapids 16U scored four times in the third inning which was enough to get a 4-1 win over Parker at home on Thursday, July 15th.

The two teams were scoreless through the first two innings of play.  Parker scored their run in the top of the third inning on an RBI double.  Dell Rapids got all four of their runs in the bottom of the inning with two outs.  Will Jaton had an RBI single.  CJ Smith reached on an error that also scored Jaton.  Sutton Williams then had a two-run single to give Dell Rapids the 4-1 lead. 

Williams finished with a hit and two RBIs.  Jaton had a hit and an RBI.  John Mortrude also had a hit.  Joe Rechtenbaugh pitched a complete game allowing an unearned run on just one hit with three walks and six strikeouts.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Parker 16U	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3
Dell Rapids 16U	0	0	4	0	0	0	X	4	3	1

Dell Rapids 16U won both games of a double-header against Tea Gold at Volunteer Field on Thursday, July 8th.  Dell Rapids won the first game 6-3 and took the second game 9-4.

Dell Rapids scored first in the bottom of the first inning when Braden Fersdahl scored on an error for an early 1-0 lead.  Tea tied the game in the top of the second, but Dell Rapids added two more runs in the bottom of the inning.  John Mortrude brought home two runs with a single to left field for a 3-1 advantage.  Tea again tied the game in the top of the third inning with two runs.  Dell Rapids scored the final three runs of the game in the bottom of the third when Brayden Pankonen and Will Jaton scored on a fielder’s choice.  Joe Rechtenbaugh brought home the final run on a single to left field.

Mortrude had a hit and two RBIs.  CJ Smith had a double and two RBIs.  Rechtenbaugh had a single and an RBI.  Fersdahl and Pankonen also had singles in the game.   Rechtenbaugh pitched three innings allowing three earned runs on three hits with eight walks and a strikeout.  Smith pitched two innings giving up a hit and striking out one.

Dell Rapids trailed early in game number two.  They scored the first run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Dylan Mathis.  Tea, however, scored three times in the bottom of the first for a 3-1 lead.  Dell Rapids took control in the top of the third scoring six times.  Mathis had an RBI ground ball, Aiden Boechler scored on a passed ball, Mortrude drew a bases-loaded walk, Evan Nelson drove home two with a single, and Mortrude stole home to give Dell Rapids a 7-3 lead.  Dell Rapids added to the lead in the top of the fourth.  Jaton had an RBI double, and Smith added an RBI single for a 9-3 advantage.  Tea got their final run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Mathis and Nelson both had a single and two RBIs.  Jaton had a double and an RBI.  Smith had a hit and an RBI.  Micah Pickard and Boechler both had one hit.  Mortrude had an RBI.  Sutton Williams pitched all five innings allowing four runs, none of them earned, on five hits with 10 strikeouts.

Dell Rapids 16U scored five times in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift them to an 11-9 victory over Dakota Valley at home on Wednesday, July 7th.

Dakota Valley scored two times in the top of the first inning, but Dell Rapids responded with two of their own in the bottom of the inning.  Brayden Pankonen had an RBI double, and Will Jaton had an RBI single to tie the game.  Dakota Valley got another run in the top of the third, but Dell Rapids took the lead in the bottom of the inning.  Jaton, CJ Smith, and Joe Rechtenbaugh all had RBI singles to give Dell Rapids a 5-3 lead after three innings of play.

Dakota Valley put the pressure on Dell Rapids in the top of the fifth inning.  They scored five times to take an 8-5 lead.  Smith had an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 8-6.  Dakota Valley got another run in the top of the sixth to put them back in front by three at 9-6.

Dell Rapids then had their big inning.  John Mortrude had a two-run single.  Mortude then scored on an error to tie the game 9-9.  Pankonen had an RBI single to give Dell Rapids the lead again, and then Dylan Mathis had an RBI single to make a two-run advantage, 11-9, heading into the final inning.  Pankonen got three straight outs to save the victory.

Pankonen had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs.  Jaton and Smith both had two hits and two RBIs.  Mortrude had a hit and two RBIs.  Mathis and Rechtenbaugh both had a hit and RBI.

Jaton pitched five innings allowing eight rights, even earned, on six hits with five walks and seven strikeouts.  Smith allowed an earned run on three hits.  Pankonen pitched two innings giving up just one hit with three strikeouts.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Dakota Valley 16U	2	0	1	0	5	1	0	9	10	5
Dell Rapids 16U	2	0	3	0	1	5	X	11	9	1

Dell Rapids broke a 0-0 tie in the top of the third inning and cruised to an 8-1 victory in Baltic on Thursday, July 1st.

Aiden Boechler plated the first run with an RBI double in the top of the third.  Dylan Mathis scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth to give Dell Rapids a 2-0 lead.  Three more runs scored in the top of the fifth.  Brayden Pankonen had a two-run double, and Will Jaton had a sacrifice bunt scoring Pankonen.

CJ Smith scored on a passed ball in the top of the sixth to add another run to the Dell Rapids lead.  Baltic got their lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Cooper Goehring scored on an error.  Dell Rapids then added two more runs in the top of the seventh.  Pankonen had an RBI single, and Mathis had an RBI ground out.

Pankonen was a perfect 4-4 at the plate with a double and three RBIs.  Boechler had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.  Mathis also had two hits, one a double, and an RBI.  Jaton had a hit and an RBI.  Smith added a double, and Braden Fersdahl also had a hit.

Pankonen pitched six innings allowing an unearned run on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.  Jaton pitched the final inning walking two and striking out one.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Dell Rapids 16U	0	0	1	1	3	1	2	8	11	2
Baltic 16U	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	2

The Dell Rapids 16U baseball team split two games played on back-to-back nights.

Dell Rapids scored 14 straight runs on their way to a 19-4 win over the Tea Bolts in Tea on Monday, June 28th.  Dell Rapids had a four-run top of the first inning, added three more in the top of the third, and then scored seven times in the top of the fourth to lead 14-0.  Tea score four times in their half of the fourth inning, but Dell Rapids scored five more in the top of the fifth before the game ended on the 10-run rule.

Aiden Boechler had two hits, a double and triple, and three RBIs.  Will Jaton had two hits and an RBI.  Even Nelson had a double and three RBIs.  Kade Kremer, Jace Entringer, CJ Smith, Aiden Geraets, and Sutton Williams all had a hit and RBI.  Dylan Mathis had a double.  Kamren Koster had a single, and Micah Pickard, Braeden Nirva, and Ethan Kringen all finished with an RBI.

Smith pitched three innings allowing one runs on a hit with two walks and six strikeouts.  Nelson pitched an inning allowing four runs, two earned, on two hits with three walks and a strikeout.  Brayden Pankonen pitched an inning with one strikeout.

Dakota Valley erased a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh by scoring three teams to get an 8-7 come-from-behind win over Dell Rapids on Tuesday, June 29th.

Dakota Valley scored two times in the bottom of the first to lead 2-0.  Dell Rapids tied the game with two runs in the top of the second inning only to see Dakota Valley get another run in the bottom of the inning.  Dell Rapids tied the game again in the top of the third at 3-3.  The score remained 3-3 until the top of the fifth inning.  Dell Rapids scored three times, but Dakota Valley answered with two runs, and Dell Rapids led 6-5 after five innings.  Dell Rapids scored one more time in the top of the seventh to take a two-run lead, 7-5, into the bottom of the ninth.  The first four batters reached safely for Dakota Valley, two of them scoring, to tie the game 7-7 before an out was recorded.  The winning run was scored with one out on a passed ball to end the game.

Dell Rapids only had three hits in the game.  Kringen had a hit and an RBI.  John Mortrude had a double.  Smith had the other hit.  Mathis and Joe Rechtenbaugh both had an RBI.

Rechtenbaugh pitched four innings allowing three earned runs on two hits with eight walks and a strikeout.  Williams pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits with five walks and a strikeout.