The Dell Rapids high school club baseball team captured the 2021 South Dakota High School Baseball Association Class B title with three great games at Sioux Falls Stadium on Monday, May 31st and Tuesday, June 1st.  Dell Rapids last won the state championship in 2017.

Dell Rapids opened the tournament against Gregory County on Monday and jumped out to a big lead early.  Dell Rapids scored three times in the bottom of the first and six more in the bottom of the second for a quick 9-0 lead.  They cruised from there as they defeated Gregory County 10-3 to advance to the semifinals.

Kaeden Eastman had the hot bat for Dell Rapids in the game.  K. Eastman went 3-4 with three singles and three RBIs.  Brayden Pankonen also had three hits with an RBI.  Treyse Eastman finished with two hits.   Landon Ruesink and Aiden Boechler both had an RBI in the game.  Jack Henry pitched five innings giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits with eight walks and 11 strikeouts.  Pankonen pitched the last two innings allowing no hits and had one strikeout.

Dell Rapids was then matched against Dakota Valley in the semifinals in their first game on Tuesday.  Dakota Valley was one of the few class B teams that defeated Dell Rapids during the season, 8-1 on April 5th.

Austin Henry and Jake Pruchniak put on a pitching display for the fans.  The two starting pitchers combined for no runs, three total hits, and 18 strikeouts through five innings of play.  As the game moved forward, the intensity increased. 

Dell Rapids put pressure on Dakota Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning.  A. Henry started the inning with a double, but he was unable to advance as Pruchniak got out of the jam.  Dakota Valley then got a one-out single in the top of the seventh inning, but that runner was stranded on first base.  Dell Rapids had a lead-off hit to start the bottom of the seventh inning from Boechler, but again, Dell Rapids could not bring him home and the game went into extra innings.

Dakota Valley was retired in order in the top of the eighth inning.  Dell Rapids, for the third inning in a row, got their leadoff hitter on base.  Pankonen started the bottom of the eighth with a double.  A. Henry was intentionally walked, and Ruesink followed with a bunt single to load the bases with no outs.  K. Eastman came to the plate and dropped a single in front of a diving center fielder for the game-winning single giving Dell Rapids a 1-0 extra-inning win and sending them to the championship game.

Ruesink and Boechler both had two hits in the game.  A. Henry and Pankonen each had a double.  K. Eastman had a single and RBI.  A. Henry pitched six innings giving up just one hit with five walks and 14 strikeouts.  Pankonen pitched two innings to get the win allowing one hit and had one strikeout.

Dell Rapids met West Central in the championship game Tuesday evening.

West Central struck first in the top of the first inning scoring two runs on three hits and a walk for an early 2-0 lead.  Dell Rapids cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning.  Ruesink scored on an RBI groundout by J. Henry.

Dell Rapids then took advantage of one small slip by West Central in the bottom of the third.  West Central got the first two batters out, but T. Eastman reached on an error with two outs.  That error sparked Dell Rapids.  Pankonen singled, A. Henry doubled, Ruesink singled, K. Eastman singled, and J. Henry doubled all after the error, and Dell Rapids scored five times to take a 6-2 lead after three innings of play.

Ruesink then put an exclamation point on the game with a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning to push the Dell Rapids lead to 8-2.  Dell Rapids added one more run after an RBI sacrifice fly by Ruesink in the bottom of the sixth.  Dell Rapids won the game by a final score of 9-2.

Ruesink was 3-3 in the game with a double and home run and four RBIs.  K. Eastman had two more hits and an RBI.  J. Henry had a double with two RBIs.  A. Henry had a double and RBI.  T. Eastman, Pankonen, and Will Jaton also had hits.  T. Eastman pitched a complete game allowing two earned runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

Dell Rapids’ championship season ends with a 21-6 overall record.

The Dell Rapids High School club baseball team had their season come to an end in the Super Regional on Monday, May 20th.  Dell Rapids played Lennox at Ronken Field and took a 5-3 loss ending their season.

Lennox took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning with a couple of runs.  They added two more runs in the bottom third inning for a 4-0 lead.

Dell Rapids cut into the lead in the top of the sixth inning.  Brandon Geraets hit a one-out single, and Keegan Miller drove him home with a double to center field.  Jay Holm followed Miller’s double with a walk.  Eddie Price then hit a single to right field scoring Miller.  Kaeden Eastman, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Holm, stole home before Price was tagged out to cut the lead to 4-3.  Lennox would add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and held Dell Rapids scoreless in the seventh for the win.

Miller, Price, and Geraets had the only three hits in the game for Dell Rapids.  Miller and Price each had an RBI.  Price started the game on the mound pitching 2 2/3 innings giving up four runs, all earned, on four hits with seven walks and three strikeouts.  Austin Henry pitched the final 3 1/3 innings giving up an unearned run on one with with four walks and nine strikeouts.

Dell Rapids finishes the season with 9-4 record.

The Dell Rapids High School Club baseball team earned a region playoff win over Garretson on Sunday, May 12th in Baltic.  Dell Rapids won by a score of 6-2.

Both teams were held scoreless in the first two innings.  Dell Rapids broke the tie in the bottom of the third inning.  Ty Wood started the inning with a lead-off single to short right field.  Keegan Miller followed with a two-run homerun to right field for the early lead.

Dell Rapids added two more runs in the bottom of the inning.  Miller, Jay Holm, and Eddie Price all drew walks to load the bases with no outs.  Jake Rechtenbaugh hit a line drive that fell scoring Miller.  Holm was thrown out at the plate trying to score, and then courtesy Kaeden Eastman was thrown out at second on the same play.  Austin Henry followed with a single.  Logan Stone entered the game as a courtesy runner for Rechtenbaugh, and  Jake Steineke hit a line drive to right field to score Stone for a 4-0 lead.

Dell Rapids then added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs.  Holm, Price, and Rechtenbaugh strung together three straight singles to score two runs.  Garretson scored two runs in the top of the seventh.  Price got the first two batters out of the inning, but gave up a walk and had to be replaced due to pitch limit being reached.  Austin Henry replaced Price on the mound.  Garretson got three straight hits before Henry finished the game on a strikeout for the win.

Price and Rechtenbaugh both had three hits each in the game offensively.  Rechtenbaugh, Henry, and Brandon Geraets had two hits each.  Miller, Holm, Steineke, and Wood all had a hit.  Miller and Rechtenbaugh had two RBIs each, and Price and Steineke also each had an RBI.  Price pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing one run on no hits with five walks and 12 strikeouts.  Henry pitched the final 1/3 of an inning giving up a run on three hits with a strikeout.

The Dell Rapids high school baseball team played three games in two days on Saturday, May 4th and Sunday May 5th. They played one game in Tea on Saturday after the game was postponed from Friday. Dell Rapids then played Garretson and Lennox in Garretson on Sunday.

Dell Rapids scored early and often in an 11-1 win over Tea on Saturday evening. Dell Rapids opened the game with two runs in the top of the first, and then added two more in the third and fourth innings for a 6-0 lead. They scored three more times in the top of the fifth inning, and then added a single run in the sixth and seventh innings for the win. Keegan Miller, Jay Holm, and Charlie Holm all had two hits each. Jake Rechtenbaugh, Austin Henry, Jake Steineke, and Brandon Geraets also all had a hit. J. Holm had two RBI in the game, and Henry, Steineke, and Geraets each had an RBI. Steineke pitched four shutout innings giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out five batters. Logan Stone pitched three innings giving up an unearned run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Dell Rapids earned a walk-off win against Garretson on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-3. Dell Rapids scored two times in the bottom of the third on a couple of wild pitches and an error for an early 2-0. Garretson got a run back in the top of the fourth off of an error, but Dell Rapids answered with an RBI single by J. Holm in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 lead. Garretson tied the game in the top of the sixth inning with runs on an error and a steal of home. The game was tied 3-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Henry reached on a walk, and Steineke reached on an error. Henry stole third base and then scored the winning run on an error for the 4-3 win. Eddie Price had three hits in the game. Steineke added two hits, and Miller, J. Holm, and Rechtenbaugh each had a hit. J. Holm had the only RBI in the game. Rechtenbaugh pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Henry took the win pitching the final 1 2/3 innings giving up a run, which was unearned, on two hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Dell Rapids closed out the three games against Lennox in Garretson. Lennox handed Dell Rapids their third loss of the season with an 8-2 win. Dell Rapids scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the first on an RBI bunt single by J. Holm. J. Holm then scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. Lennox, however, answered with three runs in the bottom of the first and then went on to score five more unanswered runs in the game for the win. Miller, J. Holm, Henry, Steineke, and Kaeden Eastman all had a hit. J. Holm had another RBI. Price took the loss pitching 3 1/3 innings giving up seven runs, four earned, on five hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. Henry pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up an unearned run on one hit with a walk and a strikeout. Ty Wood also pitched an inning giving up two walks and adding two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (8-3) will have a game against Sioux Valley in Volga on Wednesday, May 8th. The varsity game will start at 5:30 p.m. with the JV game to follow.

The Dell Rapids baseball team earned their second straight shutout win on Monday, April 29th.  Dell Rapids defeated McCook Central/Montrose 2-0 in Montrose behind a dominating pitching performance by Eddie Price.

Dell Rapids scored early again in this game.  Keegan Miller led off the game with a single and advanced to second on an error.  Jay Holm hit a bunt single to third base.  An error by the third baseman allowed Miler to score and Holm to advance to second base.  McCook Central/Montrose was able to get out of the jam by just allowing the one run, and Dell Rapids led 1-0 early.

Neither team was able to get much offense going, but Dell Rapids was able to get another run on the board in the top of the fifth inning.  Ty Wood was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning.  Wood then stole second, and was able to advance to third on a wild pitch during a Brandon Geraets at bat.  Geraets then laid down a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to bring home Wood for a 2-0 lead.

Price was dominant on the mound.  He pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up just one hit and four walks while striking out 11 batters.  Austin Henry got the final out on a strikeout after giving up a walk.

Holm led the offense with two hits in the game.  Miller had a single, and Jake Rechtenbaugh had a double in the game.  Geraets had the lone RBI in the game.

Dell Rapids (6-2) is currently scheduled to play in Tea on Wednesday, May 1st.

Dell Rapids earned their fifth win of the season and first shutout in a 4-0 win over Tri-Valley on Friday, April 26th.  The game had to change venues to Garretson in what has been a common theme for the high school baseball season this spring.

Keegan Miller led the game with a double and Jay Holm followed with a bunt single to give Dell Rapids two runners on base with no outs.  Eddie Price reached on an error, and Miller scored on the play giving Dell Rapids an early 1-0 lead.  Dell Rapids scored three times in the top of the fourth inning.  The inning began with two errors by the Tri-Valley defense.  Logan Stone drove home a run with an RBI single.  Miller also had an RBI single in the inning.  Austin Henry had an RBI groundout for the third run of the inning and final run of the game.

Jake Rechtenbaugh pitched the complete game for the shutout giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters.  Miller and Holm led the offense with two hits each.  Stone had the other hit for Dell Rapids.  Miller, Henry, and Stone all had an RBI.

Dell Rapids (5-2) will travel to Humboldt to play West Central on Sunday, April 28th, at 5:00 p.m.

A five-run top of the first inning was enough for Dell Rapids as they defeated Garretson 6-3 on Wednesday, April 24th in Garretson.

Eddie Price started the game with a lead-off double.  Jay Holm followed with an RBI single to give Dell Rapids a 1-0 lead just two batters into the game.  Keegan Miller walked and Austin Henry singled to load the bases with no outs.  After a strikeout, Jake Steineke hit a grand slam homerun to give Dell Rapids a 5-0 lead.  Garretson got one run back in the bottom of the first on a single by Dylan Kindt and an RBI single by Treyson Buckenberg.

Kindt drew a walk in the bottom of the third inning and scored on an RBI single by Brady DeBates.  Garretson would get another run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Dell Rapids error to cut the lead to 5-3.  Tate Kolbeck hit an RBI single to score Steineke as an insurance run for Dell Rapids in the top of the fifth inning, which was the final run scored in the game.

Steineke, Kolbeck, and Henry all finished with two hits each.  Price, Holm, and Ty Wood also collected hits.  Steineke led the team with four RBIs and two runs scored.  Kolbeck and Holm drove home the other two runs.  Steineke also took the win for Dell Rapids on the mound pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up three runs, one earned, on four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.  Henry pitched the final 1 2/3 innings not allowing hit while walking one batter and striking out three.

Dell Rapids (4-2) will travel to Colton to play Tri-Valley on Friday, April 26th.

 

After driving to play at Dakota Valley High School, Baltic and Dell Rapids squared off in baseball action on Thursday, April 18th.  Baltic scored early and was able to hold off Dell Rapids for a 6-4 victory.

Baltic scored two runs in the top of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead.  They added two more runs on two hits and an error in the top of the third for a quick 4-0 advantage.  Dell Rapids cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third after RBI groundouts by Jake Rechtenbaugh and Charlie Holm.  Both teams were held scoreless until the sixth inning.  Baltic added two more runs on an RBI double by Elliot Haux to push the Baltic lead back to four at 6-2.  Dell Rapids got a two-run home run by Rechtenbaugh with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as Baltic closed out the victory.

Logan Stone, Jay Holm, and Rechtenbaugh all had two hits each.  Rechtenbaugh had three RBIs in the game, and C. Holm had one.  Stone took the loss for Dell Rapids pitching three innings giving up four runs, all earned, on four hits while walking one and striking out three.  Jake Steineke pitched four innings giving up two runs, both earned, on three hits with four walks and nine strikeouts.

Dell Rapids (3-2) will travel to Lennox on Monday, April 21st.

Playing in their fourth game of the season, all at Ronken Field on the campus of Augustana University, the Dell Rapids HS Club baseball team won their third game of the year.  Dell Rapids defeated Tri-Valley 7-3 on Monday, April 15th.

Despite allowing three runs to Tri-Valley on no hits, Dell Rapids rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to earn the victory.

Mason Mathieu drew a lead-off walk to start the game and scored on a wild pitch to give Tri-Valley an early 1-0 lead.  Dell Rapids tied the game in the bottom of the first.  Eddie Price started the inning with a single and scored on a wild pitch to even the score at 1-1.  Tri-Valley regained the lead in the top of the third.  Mathieu was hit by a pitch and scored on an error on a ball in play by Lane Egger.  Egger scored later in the inning on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead.  Dell Rapids again tied the game in the bottom of the inning.  Thane Hilmoe led the inning with a single.  Courtesy runner Kaeden Eastman scored on an RBI double by Price.  Price scored on an RBI single by Jay Holm to tie the game at 3-3.

Dell Rapids broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Keegan Miller started things with a double.  Miller later scored on a ground ball by Logan Stone, who reached on an error.  Charlie Holm scored on that same error to push the lead to 5-3.  Mason Goeken drew a two-out walk, and Price added two more runs for Dell Rapids on a two-run double scoring Stone and Goeken.

Price finished the game going 3-4 from the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored.  J. Holm, Miller, Jake Rechtenbaugh, Stone, and Hilmoe all collected hits.  Stone and J. Holm both had an RBI.  Ty Wood started the game on the mound pitching four innings giving up three runs, one earned, on no hits with three walks and six strikeouts.  Austin Henry took the win pitching three innings giving up no runs and no hits with eight strikeouts.

The Dell Rapids JV team fell to Tri-Valley 9-6.

Dell Rapids (3-1) will travel to Dakota Valley High School on Thursday, April 18th for a game against Baltic.  This will be a varsity only game.

On a beautiful evening for baseball, Dell Rapids used a 7-run sixth inning to pull away from Sioux Falls Christian for a 14-2 win on Monday, April 8th.  It was the third game this season played at Ronken Field on the campus of Augustana University.  Ronken Field is quickly becoming the “home away from home” for Dell Rapids.

Dell Rapids scored in the top of the first inning with two outs to strike first.  Jake Rechtenbaugh hit an RBI single to drive home Logan Stone for the first run of the game.  Thane Hilmoe scored with two outs in the top of the third to give Dell Rapids a 2-0 lead after three innings.

Sioux Falls Christian tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-run single, but Dell Rapids regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning.  After Jake Steineke reached on an error, courtesy runner Gabe Skonseng scored on an RBI single by Keegan Miller for a 3-2 lead.  Dell Rapids delivered the big blow in the top of the sixth inning with seven runs scored on hits by Eddie Price, Stone, Rechtenbaugh, and Austin Henry.  Dell Rapids added four more runs in the seventh with hits by Charlie Holm and Kaeden Eastman.

Price, Stone, Rechtenbaugh, and Henry all had two hits each.  Holm, Miller, Eastman, and Mason Goeken also collected hits.  Rechtenbaugh had three RBIs in the game.  Stone, Miller, Henry, and Eastman all drove home two runs each, and Price also had an RBI.

Price took the win on the mound pitching 5 2/3 innings giving up two runs, both earned, on five hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts.  Henry pitched the final 1 1/3 innings giving up no runs on no hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Dell Rapids also won the five-inning JV game by a score of 10-6.

Dell Rapids (2-1) is scheduled to play Tri-Valley in Colton on Sunday, April 14th.  The varsity game will start at 2:00 p.m. with the JV game to follow.  The HS Club baseball team schedule can be found by clicking this link, http://dellrapidsbaseball.com/hs-club-baseball/.  All schedule updates due to spring weather are reflected on this schedule.