The Dell Rapids High School club baseball team played three games in Madison over the weekend of April 17th and 18th and finished the weekend going 2-1 in those games.

Their only game on Saturday, April 17th was against Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central, and they earned an 8-2 victory.  Dell Rapids scored two runs in the top of the first and held a 6-0 lead after they were done batting in the top of the fourth inning.  W/WS/SC scored two in the bottom of the fourth, but Dell Rapids got a run in the fifth and seventh inning to secure the victory.

Aiden Boechler had a double and two RBIs.  Brayden Pankonen had a hit and two RBIs.  Kaeden Eastman finished with a double and an RBI.  Brady Larson had a hit and an RBI.  Landon Ruesink, Will Jaton, and Treyse Eastman all had a hit in the game.  Jack Henry pitched five innings giving up two runs, one earned, on one hit while walking two and striking out seven.  Larson pitched the final two innings giving up just one hit while striking out six batters.

The second game of the weekend was against Hamlin on Sunday, April 18th.  Hamlin survived an exciting Dell Rapids comeback to earn a 9-5 win in extra innings.

Hamlin scored a run right away in the top of the first inning, but Dell Rapids responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning for a 2-1 lead.  Hamlin took advantage of a walk, hit batter, and two errors by Dell Rapids in the top of third inning and scored four runs for a 5-2 lead.  Dell Rapids added a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 5-3.  Dell Rapids scored two times with two outs on a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 5-5 and force extra innings.  Hamlin scored four times in the top of the ninth inning on two hits and two errors by Dell Rapids and held on for the 9-5 win.

Austin Henry had the only RBI for Dell Rapids in the game.  Ruesink, Pankonen, Jaton, Larson, Boechler, and J. Henry each had a hit.  CJ Smith pitched three innings giving up five runs, two earned, on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts.  T. Eastman pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up four runs, one earned, on four hits with four walks and 12 strikeouts.  Ruesink pitched the final 1/3 of an inning earning a strikeout.

Dell Rapids bounced back in their next game and defeated Madison 8-4 on Sunday.

Dell Rapids scored two in the top of the first inning only to see Madison score three in the bottom of the first for a 3-2 lead.  Dell Rapids then shut down the Madison offense until the sixth inning.  Dell Rapids added two more runs in the top of the second, one in the top of the third, and another in the top of the six for a 6-3 lead.  Madison scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 6-4, but Dell Rapids scored two more times in the top of the seventh for the win.

T. Eastman finished with two hits, including a double, and two RBIs in the game.  Boechler and A. Henry both had two hits and an RBI.  K. Eastman and CJ Smith both had a hit with an RBI.  Ruesink collected two hits, and J. Henry added a double.  Pankonen pitched five innings giving up three earned runs on four hits with five walks and five strikeouts.  A. Henry pitched the final two innings giving up an unearned run on no hits while walking two and striking out six batters.

Dell Rapids (5-4) will travel to Garretson on Friday, April 23rd.

Neither Sioux Falls Christian nor the wind and cold could slow down the offense of Dell Rapids as they rolled to a 13-2 win over the Chargers in Renner on Monday, April 12th.

Dell Rapids scored in every inning and took advantage of seven Sioux Falls Christian errors ending the game in five innings on the 10-run rule.  Dell Rapids scored in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Austin Henry.  The Chargers tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a single to center for a 1-1 tie.

Dell Rapids then scored seven straight runs to take control of the game over the next two innings.  Treyse Eastman scored on an error, and CJ Smith and Brayden Pankonen both had RBI singles in the top of the second.  Will Jaton added an RBI single, Eastman scored on another error, Landon Ruesink had an RBI single, and Smith scored on a wild pitch in the top of the third to give Dell Rapids an 8-1 lead.

Austin Henry scored on a dropped third strike, Aiden Boechler had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch, and Eastman scored on a passed ball in the top of the fourth inning for a 12-2 lead.  Ruesink scored on a passed ball in the top of the fifth for the final run of the game.

Seven players had hits for Dell Rapids.  Ruesink and Jaton both had two hits and an RBI.  Eastman also collected two hits.  Pankonen, A. Henry, Boechler, and Smith all had a hit and an RBI.  Ruesink got the win on the mound.  He pitched four innings giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits with five walks and six strikeouts.  Pankonen pitched the final inning striking out two batters.

Dell Rapids (3-3) will play Howard and W/WS/SC on Saturday in Madison.

Playing in their second straight game in as many days, Dell Rapids bounced back with a 13-5 win over Baltic on Tuesday, April 6th in Baltic.  Dell Rapids smacked 11 hits in the game a day after being held to just one at Dakota Valley.

Dell Rapids scored in the first inning for the third straight game.  After the first two batters were retired, Austin Henry reached on an error.  Kaeden Eastman followed with an RBI single.  After a steal by Eastman, Brady Larson had an RBI single to give Dell Rapids a 2-0 lead.

Henry ripped a double to left field in the top of the third inning and later scored on an error.  Larson scored the second run of the inning on an RBI double by Jack Henry.  Baltic got both of those runs back in the bottom of the inning.  Easton Nordbye drew a bases-loaded walk, and Riley Dobbins hit an RBI sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4-2 after three innings of play.

Dell Rapids scored three more times in the top of the fourth.  Brayden Pankonen had an RBI single, and A. Henry added a two run double to give Dell Rapids a 7-2 lead.  Gunner Schultz had an RBI single for Baltic in the bottom of the inning, but Dell Rapids led 7-3 after four innings of play.

Neither team scored again until the seventh inning.  Dell Rapids scored six times with two outs.  Will Jaton had a two-run single, Landon Ruesink also had a two-run single, Pankonen scored on an error, and A. Henry added another RBI double.  Baltic scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Riley Schultz and a stolen base by Dobbins.

A. Henry finished 3-5 with three doubles and three RBI.  Ruesink was 2-4 with a triple and two RBI.  K. Eastman was 2-5 with an RBI.  Jaton had a hit with two RBI, J. Henry had a double with an RBI, and Pankonen and Larson both had a hit with an RBI.

Treyse Eastman started on the mound pitching 2 1/3 innings giving up two earned runs on no hits with five walks and three strikeouts.  Ruesink pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up one earned run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.  Joe Rechtenbaugh pitched the final inning giving up two earned runs on two hits and a walk.

Dell Rapids (2-1) will play Sioux Falls Washington (5:00 p.m.) and Sioux Falls O’Gorman (7:30 p.m.) at Harmadon Park #3 in Sioux Falls on Friday, April 9th.

Dell Rapids traveled to Dakota Valley for a high school baseball make-up game on Monday, April 5th.  Dakota Valley used two big innings to earn an 8-1 victory in the game.

Dell Rapids got on the board first taking advantage of three straight walks.  Brayden Pankonen, Jack Henry, and Landon Ruesink all drew a walk to start the game.  Kaeden Eastman drove home Pankonen on an RBI groundout to give Dell Rapids a 1-0 lead.

Dakota Valley scored three times in the bottom of the third inning after Dell Rapids made two errors in the inning.  Dakota Valley led 3-1 after three innings.  They would add four more runs in the bottom fifth.  Three walks, two hits, a hit batter, and an error given up by Dell Rapids led to the four runs.  The final run was scored in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Landon Ruesink had the only hit in the game for Dell Rapids. Pankonen started the game on the mound pitching 2 1/3 innings giving up two runs, neither of them earned, on one hit with three strikeouts.  Austin Henry pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up four runs, none earned, on one hit with four walks and four strikeouts.  J. Henry finished the game throwing two innings giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Jake Pruchniak was dominate on the mound for Dakota Valley.  He threw six innings giving up one earned run on one hit with three walks and 14 strikeouts.  Paul Bruns pitched the final inning striking out two batters.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

The Dell Rapids High School baseball team won its 2021 season opener against Tri-Valley, 7-3, on Thursday, April 1st.  This was the first game for the high school club team since the end of the 2019 season.

Tri-Valley got on the board first after getting a rally started in the top of the first inning.  The first two batters of the game reached base, and Luke Lofswold scored on an RBI groundout by Beau Keith.  Dell Rapids tied the game in the bottom of the inning.  Brayden Pankonen walked, stole second, and advanced to third on an error.  He scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to make the score 1-1.

After setting down Tri-Valley in order in the top of the second, Dell Rapids took the lead in the bottom of the inning.  Will Jaton drove home Aiden Boechler with a double to the left-centerfield gap.  Jaton later scored after Dylan Mathis got into a rundown on a steal attempt.  Dell Rapids led 3-1 after two innings.

Keith drove home another run for Tri-Valley in the top of the third after the first two batters reached to start the inning again.  Logan Colwill added an RBI single to tie the game 3-3.

Dell Rapids took the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning.  Jack Henry scored after ground ball by Austin Henry and a throwing error by Tri-Valley.  Boechler had an RBI single later in the inning to give Dell Rapids a 5-3 lead.  Boechler added another RBI single to his day in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Pankonen had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

Boechler finished 2-2 with two RBIs.  Jaton was 1-3 with an RBI double.  CJ Smith was 1-1 with a triple, and A. Henry finished 1-3.  Brady Larson started the game pitching for Dell Rapids going three innings while giving up three runs, all earned, on three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts.  Landon Ruesink took the win pitching four innings of relief giving up just one hit with one walk and five strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (1-0) will travel to Dakota Valley for a 4:30 start on Monday, April 5th.