Dell Rapids got a 7-0 shutout win over Beresford at Rickeman Field on Wednesday, May 12th.  It was the third win in a row for Dell Rapids, and their fifth in their last six games.

The Dell Rapids defense got out of a first inning jam to start the game.  Beresford got their first batter of the game on base on a walk, but he was later picked off first by starting pitcher Jack Henry.  Beresford also had runners reach by an error and a single, but no runs were scored.

The score remained 0-0 until the bottom the third inning.  Aiden Boechler reached base on an error and was brought home by a single by Dylan Mathis.  Dell Rapids added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Kaeden Eastman started the inning with a single.  J. Henry drew a walk, and then Boechler hit a two-run triple to right field.  Will Jaton followed with an RBI single, and Dell Rapids led 4-0 after four innings of play.

Dell Rapids put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Austin Henry got a lead off single, Landon Ruesink followed with a single as well, and then K. Eastman walked to load the bases with no outs.  A. Henry scored on a passed ball, and Ruesink came home on an RBI sacrifice fly by J. Henry.  A. Boechler added an RBI single for the seventh run of the game.

Boechler had two hits, one of them a triple, and three RBIs in the game.  A. Henry had two hits.  Jaton and Mathis both finished with a hit and an RBI.  J. Henry also had an RBI.  Sutton Williams, Ruesink, and K. Eastman also all had hits in the game.

J. Henry pitched six innings giving up just three hits while walking two and striking out 10 batters.  Brady Larson pitched the final inning getting two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (13-6) will host Flandreau/Chester/Colman-Egan on Monday, May 17th, Tea Area on Tuesday, May 18th, and then Sioux Valley on Wednesday, May 19th to finish the regular season.

For four innings Dell Rapids and West Central were locked in a scoreless pitching duel at Rickeman Field on Monday, May 10th.  West Central finally broke the tie in the top of the fifth inning, but Dell Rapids scored three unanswered runs to win 3-1.

The two teams combined for just three hits through the first four innings of play.  Zach Madson led off the West Central fifth with a slow roller up the third base line for an infield single.  Madson advanced to third after an error on a throw over to first and then a passed ball.  Adam Parsons blooped a broken-bat single over a drawn-in infield for the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead for West Central.

Dell Rapids responded by getting the first three batters on base safely in the bottom of the fifth.  Brayden Pankonen drew a lead-off walk.  Austin Henry followed with a single, and Landon Ruesink tied the game with an RBI single.  A. Henry scored after an errant throw to second on a steal attempt by Ruesink.  That run gave Dell Rapids a 2-1 lead.  Dell Rapids added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Ruesink.

A. Henry pitched a complete game giving up a run on three hits with five walks and 14 strikeouts. 

Ruesink led the offense with two hits, one double, and two RBI.  Treyse Eastman, A. Henry, and Kaeden Eastman all had singles in the game.

Dell Rapids will host Beresford on Wednesday, May 12th.

A fourth-inning grand slam home run by Dylan Mathis electrified the Dell Rapids players and fans and helped spark a 9-5 win over Lennox on Sunday, May 9th in Lennox.

Lennox got a two runs in the bottom of the second inning to break the scoreless tie.  One run scored on a passed ball, and the other scored on a double to give Lennox a 2-0 lead after three innings of play.

Dell Rapids took advantage of a two-out error by Lennox in the top of the third inning.  Austin Henry followed the error with an RBI single, only the second hit of the game to that point for Dell Rapids.  That run scored made the score 2-1.

The offense then came alive for Dell Rapids in the top of the fourth inning.  Jack Henry hit a one-out single to deep shortstop.  After a passed ball, Aiden Boechler followed with a single to left field.  Will Jaton drew a walk to load the bases with one out.  Mathis then connected on a 2-0 pitch and sent the ball over the left field fence for the grand slam home run to give Dell Rapids a 5-2 lead.  The home run also fired up the Dell Rapids defense.

Lennox put together a threat in the bottom of the fifth after a lead-off single followed by a walk.  A. Henry was able to get a force out at third base on an attempted bunt, keeping runners at just first and second.  The next batter lined a single to center field to load the bases for Lennox with just one out.  Dell Rapids then pulled off a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning to keep the score 5-2.  Lennox did scratch another run across the plate in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-3 heading into the final inning.

Dell Rapids then started the seventh inning with three straight hits and then a Lennox error, and all of the sudden Dell Rapids was ahead 8-3.  J. Henry scored on a wild pitch to make the score 9-3.  Lennox did get a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as Dell Rapids finished the game there at 9-5.

Mathis finished 1-3 at the plate with the home run and four RBIs.  A. Henry had three hits, including a double, and an RBI.  Landon Ruesink had a double.  Kaeden Eastman finished with two hits and two RBIs.  J. Henry had three hits in the game.  Treyse Eastman, Boechler, and Jaton each had a single.

Brayden Pankonen pitched six innings giving up three runs, all earned, on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.  Ruesink pitched the final inning giving up two runs, both earned, on a hit with two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (11-6 overall, 10-3 versus Class B, 6-0 versus Region 3B teams) will host West Central in a region game on Monday, May 10th.

With two outs and runners on second and third, trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, Jake Jensen smacked a line drive to right field off of Austin Henry scoring the game-winning run to give Vermillion a 3-2 win over Dell Rapids on Friday, May 7th in Vermillion.

Vermillion did score the first run of the game after Jensen reached on a fielding error allowing Conner Saunders to score in the bottom of the third inning.  Dell Rapids took the lead in the top of the fifth inning after Kaeden Eastman hit an RBI single and then later scored on an RBI single by Dylan Mathis.  The score remained 2-1 in favor of Dell Rapids heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Vermillion got a lead-off single to start the seventh inning.  Saunders was out on a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to second.  A dropped third strike allowed the next batter to reach, and both runners advanced putting the runners on second and third.  A. Henry got a strikeout of the next batter on a dropped third strike, but both runners held their base putting Vermillion at two outs.  That’s when Jensen came to the plate and then hit the game-winning single.

Treyse Eastman, A. Henry, and Aiden Boechler all had two hits in the game.  K. Eastman had a hit and RBI.  Mathis also had a hit and RBI.  Will Jaton picked up a single in the game.

T. Eastman pitched the first two innings and did not allow a hit while walking two and striking out two.  Jack Henry pitched four innings giving up two runs, both unearned, on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts.  A. Henry took the loss pitching 2/3 of an inning giving up an unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts.

Austin Henry put together a dominate pitching performance against Sioux Falls Christian on Monday, May 3rd at Rickeman Field.  A. Henry threw six shutout innings allowing just one hit and four walks while striking out 16 batters.

The first inning offense was more than enough.  A. Henry helped himself with an RBI single in the bottom of the first.  Kaeden Eastman added an RBI sacrifice fly, and A. Henry later scored after Jack Henry got into a rundown between first and second base.  Dell Rapids led 3-0 after the first inning.

Dell Rapids added another run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Brayden Pankonen.  The score remained 4-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning.  Dylan Mathis scored a run on an error.  Braden Fersdahl scored on an RBI groundout by Treyse Eastman, and Pankonen had another RBI single to push the lead to 7-0.  Pankonen pitched the bottom of the seventh inning, striking out one batter, to finish the game.

Pankonen was 3-4 in the game two two RBIs.  T. Eastman had two hits, including a double, with an RBI.  A. Henry and K. Eastman both had a hit and RBI.  Josh DeKnikker, J. Henry, and CJ Smith all had a hit as well.

Dell Rapids (10-5) will travel to Vermillion on Friday, May 7th.

This year’s senior class may not be very large for the Dell Rapids High School baseball team, but the two seniors are quietly having strong seasons to help lead their team.

Kaeden Eastman and Brady Larson have been a part of the Dell Rapids high school team since eighth grade.  They were a part of one the last eighth grade classes to be allowed to be on the high school team, and were in their first year in the program when Dell Rapids last won a high school state title in 2017.

Dell Rapids is currently 8-2 against Class B schools and 5-0 against Region 3 opponents through the first half of their season in the month of April.  Their losses have come against Dakota Valley at 8-1 on April 5th and Hamlin 9-5 in nine innings on April 18th.

Eastman leads the team in RBIs with 13 against Class B teams.  He has a double and a .235 batting average in nine games played.  Larson’s success is coming on the mound for Dell Rapids against Class B schools.  He’s thrown 13.1 innings in four games pitched.  Larson has allowed five runs, four earned (2.14 ERA), with six walks and 13 strikeouts.  He also has one of the best WHIPs on the team at 1.221.

Dell Rapids has a full schedule before regions begin on Monday, May 24th.  They will have nine more games between May 3rd and May 19th, weather permitting.  Dell Rapids will host Sioux Falls Christian on May 3rd.

Dell Rapids scored 11 runs in the third inning on their way to a 16-0 win over Baltic at Rickeman Field on Friday, April 30th on a beautiful night for baseball.  The game ended in the fifth inning on the 10-run rule.

Dell Rapids grabbed the early lead in the bottom of the first inning.  Brayden Pankonen had an RBI single and then scored on a dropped third strike throw to first to give Dell Rapids a 2-0 lead.  The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the third inning.

Dell Rapids then exploded for 11 runs, sending 15 hitters to the plate in the inning.  Dell Rapids had seven hits in the inning, took four walks, and had one batter hit.  Dell Rapids then scored three more runs in the bottom of the fourth after a two run single by Josh DeKnikker and an RBI double by Tyler Tjaden.

Jack Henry had a very solid game on the mound pitching all five innings and only gave up one hit, which was not until the fifth inning.  He had only two walks and struck out 11 batters.

Treyse Eastman had three hits in the game, two of them doubles, and two RBIs.  Will Jaton had two hits, one a double, and two RBIs.  Tjaden had a double with an RBI.  Kaeden Eastman had a hit with three RBIs.  DeKnikker had a hit with two RBIs.  Landon Ruesink, Pankonen, and Austin Henry all had a hit with an RBI.  Brady Larson also had an RBI.

Dell Rapids (9-5) will host Sioux Falls Christian on Monday, May 3rd.

The Dell Rapids baseball team hosted Yankton in a double-header on Monday, April 26th at Rickeman Field.  Dell Rapids won the first game 5-3, but Yankton used a big seventh-inning rally to win the second game 12-8.

Dell Rapids had five runs on eight hits in the game.  They scored the first three runs of the game in the first two innings and never trailed in the game.  Yankton tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth, but Dell Rapids got a run in the fifth and one more in the sixth inning.

Dell Rapids had six of their eight hits in the first game come from Austin Henry and Treyse Eastman.  Both Henry and T. Eastman were 3-for-3 in the game.  Henry had two home runs and two RBIs.  T. Eastman also had two RBIs.  Kaeden Eastman and Aiden Boechler each had a hit in the game.

A. Henry pitched the first four innings giving up two runs on two hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.  Brayden Pankonen pitched the final three innings giving up one earned run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Yankton held an early 1-0 lead in the second game after scoring a run in the top of the second inning.  Dell Rapids scored three times in the bottom of the second.  Yankton got another run in the top of the third to trail 3-2.  Dell Rapids then had a big five-run inning in the bottom of the fourth for an 8-2 lead.  Yankton added a run in the sixth to cut the lead to 8-3.  Things looked great for Dell Rapids leading 8-3 heading into the final inning, but Yankton exploded for nine runs in the top of the seventh.  They took advantage of four walks, a hit batter, and three Dell Rapids errors.  Yankton added three hits in the inning as well and ended their half of the inning leading 12-8.

Pankonen had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs in the second game to lead Dell Rapids.  Jack Henry had two hits, one a double, with two RBIs.  K. Eastman also had two hits, one a double, with an RBI.  T. Eastman had a double with three RBIs.  Will Jaton also had a hit.

T. Eastman pitched six innings giving up five runs, three earned, on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts.  CJ Smith pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up five runs on a walk.  Jaton pitched the final 2/3 of an inning giving up two runs on a hit with two walks and a strikeout.

Dell Rapids (8-5 overall, 7-2 vs Class B, 5-0 vs Region 3B) will host Baltic on Friday, April 30th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media with first pitch at 5:30 p.m.

The Dell Rapids High School club baseball team continued their hot play as of late with a big win in Salem on Sunday, April 25th.  Dell Rapids scored eight runs in the first two innings on their way to a 13-4 victory over McCook Central/Montrose.  This was the third win in a row for Dell Rapids and fifth in their last six games.

An error by the MCM defense on the first batter of the game put Landon Ruesink on base for Dell Rapids.  He moved to second on a groundout by Jack Henry.  Ruesink stole third during Austin Henry’s at-bat, and A. Henry was eventually hit by a pitch. Kaeden Eastman hit an RBI groundout to the shortstop for the second out, but it brought home Ruesink.  It looked as if MCM might get out of an early jam by only allowing one run.

Dell Rapids, however, was just getting started.  Another hit batter, followed by three straight singles and a walk, and Dell Rapids all of the sudden had three more runs for a total of four in the inning.  Will Jaton drove home two, and Treyse Eastman drove home the fourth run, and Dell Rapids led 4-0 after the top of the first inning was complete.

Dell Rapids continued to pound the ball in the second inning.  J. Henry started things with a triple.  K. Eastman had a two-run single, Aiden Boechler had an RBI triple, and Jaton had an RBI sacrifice fly as Dell Rapids scored four more times in the top of the second inning.  MCM did pick up three runs off Dell Rapids starter Ruesink before relief pitcher Brady Larson shut the door limiting the damage.

K. Eastman had another RBI groundout in the top of the third inning to push the Dell Rapids lead to 9-3.  Dell Rapids had another four-run inning in the top of the fifth.  CJ Smith stole home for the 10th run of the game.  K. Eastman drove home two more with a single to left field and then later scored on an error to make the score 13-3.  MCM did score a run in the bottom of the fifth to stay out of the 10-run rule, which was also the final run scored in the game.

Ten different Dell Rapids players got a hit in the game.  Boechler and J. Henry both had a triple, and Smith had a double.  K. Eastman had two hits.  Ruesink, A. Henry, Jaton, T. Eastman, Dylan Mathis, and Tyler Tjaden all had singles.  E. Eastman drove home five runs in the game.  Jaton had three RBIs.  Boechler and T. Eastman both had one RBI.

Ruesink started the game on the mound giving up three earned runs on no hits with four walks and a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings.  Larson earned the win pitching 5 2/3 very effective innings giving up one earned run on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts.  Larson threw just 79 pitches, 53 of those for strikes.

Dell Rapids improves to 7-4 on the season.  They will host Yankton in a varsity only double-header on Monday, April 26th.

Dell Rapids won their second straight game, and fourth out of their last five, after a 7-2 win over Garretson on Friday, April 23rd in Garretson.

Dell Rapids was in control of this game from the start.  The first three batters of the game for Dell Rapids walked to load the bases with nobody out in the top of the first inning.  Kaeden Eastman hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring home the first run of the game.  Will Jaton followed with an RBI single, and Austin Henry scored on an error to give Dell Rapids a 3-0 lead.

Dell Rapids added three more runs in the top of the third inning.  A. Henry and Aiden Boechler scored on errors.  Treyse Eastman also hit a sacrifice fly, and Dell Rapids lead 6-0.  The seventh run of the game was scored on an RBI single by A. Henry in the top of the fourth for a 7-0 lead.

Jack Henry had a strong four innings on the mound.  He held Garretson hitless through four innings, but ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning.  J Schroder finally got the first hit of the game for Garretson to start the inning.  The next two batters walked loading the bases with no outs, which ended the night on the mound for J. Henry.  Brady Larson came into the game to pitch inheriting those three runners with no outs.  Larson got a strikeout in his first batter faced.  He got the next batter to ground into a fielder’s choice, and then T. Eastman threw out a base runner attempting to steal to end the innings.  Garretson was only able to get one run after loading the bases with no outs in the fifth inning.  Garretson got one more run in the seventh after a couple of walks and an error in the inning.

A. Henry had two hits and an RBI.  Brayden Pankonen had two hits, including a double.  K. Eastman had a hit and an RBI.  Jaton also had a hit with an RBI.  Boechler, J. Henry, and Dylan Mathis all had a hit in the game as well.

J. Henry pitched four innings giving up an earned run on one hit with four walks and six strikeouts.  Larson pitched the final three innings giving up a run, which was unearned, on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids will play McCook Central in Salem on Sunday, April 25th at 3:00 p.m.  They will then host Yankton in a double-header on Monday, April 26th.