Cubs come up short in State Tournament semifinals

MITCHELL – The Brookings Cubs fell short of a state title this weekend as they lost in the Class A State Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

The Cubs needed to win four-straight games over the weekend and they won the first one on Friday night, beating the Sioux Falls Brewers 2-1. However, they then lost 14-13 to Tea on Saturday and that ended their season.

Brookings finished the year with a record of 20-4. Harrisburg won the Class A championship as the Woodies beat the Renner Monarchs 3-1 in the title game. Alexandria won the Class B title, beating Clark 12-2 in seven innings in the championship.

Friday

Brookings 2, SF Brewers 1

The Cubs broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning and then kept the Brewers off the scoreboard in their final two at bat’s to earn the win.

Brookings went up 1-0 in the top of the second. Michael Zimmerman singled with one out and Ben Schulte ran for him. Schulte was caught stealing but then a walk from Lincoln Vasgaard, a single from Myles Rees and Mitch Olson being hit by a pitch loaded the bases with two outs. Vasgaard then scored on a wild pitch to get the Cubs on the board.

The Brewers tied the game in the bottom of the third. Treyton Decker reached on an error to begin the inning and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-1.

Arlen Peters hit a one-out single in top of the eight for the Cubs. He was thrown out at second on a ground ball from Isaac Bonner and then Bonner advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bonner would then come home on a single from Zimmerman and the Cubs had the lead heading into the final inning and a half.

The Brewers had a runner on first with one out in both the eighth and ninth inning but were unable to get that runner home and the Cubs stayed alive.

Brookings had 10 hits as a team. Zimmerman was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Rees was 3-for-4. Olson was 2-for-3. Bonner, Peters and Carson Jager were all 1-for-4.

Peters pitched the first three innings for the Cubs and gave up one unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Nolan Krogman pitched the next five innings and gave up no runs and three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Logan Anderson got the final three outs and did not give up a hit. He had one strikeout and one walk.

Saturday

Tea 14, Brookings 13

Brookings had a comeback come up short in its final game of the season. The Cubs scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to score the tying or winning run.

Tea scored one run in the top of the first and then added two more in the top of the second. The run in the first inning came on a double play. Dawson Portner then hit an RBI single in the second and later in the inning Henry Hammrich scored on a sacrifice fly from Jensen.

The Cubs took the lead in the bottom of the second with four runs. Rees came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a bases-clearing triple to tie the game. Rees then scored on a ground out from Olson, making it 4-3 going into the third.

Tea reclaimed the lead in the top of the third. Hammrich walked with the bases loaded to tie the game and then Nathan Babb scored on a sacrifice fly from Logan Boom to make it 5-4.

The Steam extended the lead to 7-4 in the top of the fourth. Jensen scored on a fielder’s choice from Andy Moen and then Cole McKinney came home on a sacrifice fly from Babb.

Tea scored two more in the fifth. Hammrich scored on a sacrifice fly from Portner and Boom scored on a sacrifice fly from Ben Loos.

Tea would push the lead to 13-4 in the top of the sixth. Babb scored on a sacrifice fly from Boom to make it 10-4. Portner then launched one over the left field fence and it was a nine-run lead for the Steam going into the bottom of the sixth.

Brookings got one run back in the bottom of the inning as Bonner hit Parker Winghart home with a single. The Cubs then cut the lead to 13-8 in the bottom of the seventh. Rees scored on a sacrifice fly from Justin Cofell and then Winghart and Jager came home on a Peters single to make it a five-run game.

Tea pushed the lead back to six in the top of the eighth as Jensen hit Hammrich home with a single. Brookings got that run back in the bottom of the inning as Rees scored on an Anderson single and it was 14-9 going into the final inning.

Peters walked to begin the bottom of the ninth and then scored on a Bonner triple. Zimmerman walked to put runners on the corners with no outs and then Bonner scored on a single from Vasgaard. Schulte was running for Zimmerman and he scored on a Rees single to make it 14-12. Vasgaard scored on a ground out from Olson and Rees was on second with one out. However, Jager and Schulte had back-to-back ground outs to end the game.

The Cubs had 11 hits as a team. Rees was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Bonner was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Peters was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Anderson was 1-for-1 with an RBI. Jager was 1-for-5 and Winghart was 1-for-3. Olson had two RBIs without a hit and Cofell had an RBI without a hit.

Vasgaard pitched the first two innings and gave up three earned runs on three hits with no strikeouts and three walks. Rhett Zelinsky pitched two and two thirds innings and gave up six earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and four walks. Reid Barnard pitched two and a third innings and gave up four earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Anderson pitched one inning and gave up one earned run on one hit with two strikeouts and one walk. Jake Pruchniak pitched the ninth inning and gave up no runs or hits and had no strikeouts or walks.