Brookings baseball looks ahead to summer season after spring season ends

RAPID CITY – The Brookings varsity baseball team's season came to an end over the weekend as the Bobcats were swept in a best-of-three Regional Playoff Series against Rapid City Stevens.

The Raiders won game one 13-9 on Friday night and then completed the sweep with a 7-1 victory on Saturday. Brookings finished the season with a record of 10-13.

Brookings will turn to the summer season now as they'll switch to the Legion Post 74 Bandits. The Bandits first games will be May 29 in Brookings against Pierre. The first game will be at 5 p.m.

Brookings head coach Carter Roach said he thinks the team will carry some momentum into the summer season, despite the way the spring season came to an end.

"After talking to the kids, Iím proud of them," Roach said. "The spring season, one could say, is a grind, just with school and so many games in such a short amount of time. So I was proud of them. We did go on a stretch there, winning seven of 10 games towards the end of the season. Obviously the playoffs didn't go the way we wanted it to, but I'm excited."

Roach said there are some things that his team has to clean up in the summer, including giving away free bases and limiting mistakes in the field.

"We have to attack the strike zone more. When you look at almost every one of our losses, we were north of seven to 10 either hit batters or walks, so I mean we just have to pitch it better. When I say pitch it better, we just got to be around the strike zone and can't give up so many free passes. Defensively with where guys are playing at, we just got to kind of level up and be better defensively as well," Roach said.

Game One

RC Stevens 13, Brookings 9

The Bobcats led 8-3 going into the bottom of the fifth inning and were then out scored 10-1 in the final two innings.

The Raiders scored three runs in the first inning and they all came from the bat of Tucker Waddell. He launched a three-run home run over the left field fence with two outs to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead going into the second.

Brookings responded with two runs in the top of the second. Jase Bauer walked to begin the inning and then Nolan Wagner reached on an error with one out. Jay Harris would hit a run home with a single and then Wagner scored on an error to make it 3-2.

The Bobcats gained the lead in the top of the fourth. Wagner was hit by a pitch with one out and Harris hit him home with a double to make it 3-3. Harris then came home on an error to make it 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Brookings extended its lead in the top of the fifth. Bauer was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then moved to second with a sacrifice bunt from Talon Hyde. Wagner then walked to put two runners on and Noah Lease would deliver with two outs as he hit two runners home with a single. Jude Meendering followed with an RBI single and later scored on a single from Baker Hanson to make it 8-3.

Stevens would load the bases up with no outs in the bottom of the inning and then Brady Waddell cleared them with a double and that made it 8-6. The next batter walked and then Karter Brager hit both runners home with a single and that made 8-8 going into the sixth.

Brookings was unable to score in the top of the sixth and the Raiders regained the lead with five runs in the bottom of the inning. The first run came from a double from Tucker Waddell and then Brager followed with a two-run double. Connor Konvalin and Liam Unterbrunner each hit RBI singles to make it 13-8 going into the final half inning.

Lease hit a one-out double and then scored on an error with two outs. However, that was the only run that the Bobcats scored and the Raiders came away with a comeback win in game one.

"Credit to Rapid City Stevens," Roach said. "Their relief pitching, the guys they brought in were good and they filled it up and had good off speed and kind of kept us off balance there.

"Defensively, I definitely think we beat ourselves in some of the facets there. I think we could have made a play or two on some of those balls. But also being on the road and playing into playing in an environment that we havenít played in this year definitely played a factor in it."

Brookings had seven hits as a team. Harris and Lease were each 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Meendering and Hanson were each 1-for-3 with an RBI and Tre Christopherson was 1-for-3.

Nolan Krogman got the start on the mound for the 'Cats and he pitched four innings. He gave up seven earned runs on six hits and had six strikeouts and three walks. Meendering then pitched one and a third innings and gave up six earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and four walks. Jones Huntimer got the final two outs for Brookings and he gave up one hit and had one strikeout and one walks.

Game Two

Rapid City Stevens 7, Brookings 1

The Bobcats were unable to get their offense going in game two as they had four hits and their season came to a close.

The Raiders scored two runs in the top of the first. T Waddell hit a run home with a ground out and then Bridger Mez hit an RBI double to make it 2-0.

Brookings would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second. Wagner walked to begin the inning and then made it to second with a sacrifice bunt from Andrew Heine. He then came home on a single from Ben Schulte and that made it 2-1 going into the third.

Stevens answered with two runs in the top of the fourth. Konavalin scored a run with a ground out and then Unterbrunner hit an RBI single to make it 4-1.

The Raiders put the game away with three runs in the top of the seventh. Mez hit an RBI double and then Trevor Scholosser hit a two-run single to push the lead to 7-1. Brookings went down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

Roach said he thought the Bobcats had chances in both games, but just did not take advantage in those moments.

"We had the bases loaded, and guys on second and third early in game two, and we just couldn't quite get the big hits. But give credit to Rapid City Stevens pitching staff. But like I said, I mean, that's the biggest thing in both games. I look at it, we definitely had our chances in those games. We just did not take them," Roach said.

Schulte was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Bauer was 2-for-2. Meendering was 1-for-3.

Lease started the game on the mound for the Bobcats and pitched six and a third innings. He gave up seven runs, six earned, with 12 hits and had three strikeouts and one walk. Hyde got the final two outs for the 'Cats and gave up one hit and had one strikeout.