Cubs keep it rolling with three wins

BROOKINGS – The Brookings Cubs ran their win streak up to seven this past week as they won three games.

The Cubs beat the Brandon Belugas 13-1 on Thursday and then topped the Renner Monarchs 5-1 on Sunday. They capped off the week with a 9-0 win over the Sioux Falls Brewers on Monday.

Brookings is now 14-1 on the season and its only loss was a forfeit to Renner on June 13. The Cubs will host a doubleheader against the Sioux Falls Flying Squirrels on Sunday and the first game will start at 5 p.m. They will then close out the regular season with a game at Tea on July 23.

Thursday

Brookings 13, Brandon 1 (7 inn.)

The Cubs scored all 1 3 of their runs in the final four innings as they won via the 10-run rule.

Brookings took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Myles Rees hit a two-run single and then Lincoln Vasgaard scored on a Reid Barnard fielder’s choice. Justin Cofell also scored on an error on the same play.

The Cubs tacked on four more runs in the top of the fifth. Michael Zimmerman was walked with the bases loaded and then Vasgaard hit Parker Winghart home with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0. Myles Rees then hit an RBI single and Cofell walked with the bases loaded to make it 8-0.

Brandon scored its lone run of the night with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. The Cubs then scored five runs in the top of the seventh.

Carson Jager walked with the bases loaded and Rhett Zelinsky hit two runs home with a double to make it 11-1. Isaac Bonner then hit a two-run double of his own to push the lead to 13-1. Brandon was unable to cut the lead under 10 in the bottom of the inning and the game ended.

The Cubs had nine hits as a team. Rees was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Zelinsky and Bonner were each 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Vasgaard was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Jager was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Barnard was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Winghart was 1-for-5.

Barnard pitched the first five innings for Brookings. He gave up no runs and three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. Jake Pruchniak pitched two innings and gave up one earned run and one hit with four strikeouts and two walks.

Sunday

Brookings 5, Renner 1

The Cubs led 2-1 heading into the final three innings and scored three insurance runs to clinch the win on Sunday night.

Bonner hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0. Cofell then hit Ashton Pick home with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to double the Cubs’ lead.

Renner would get that run back in the top of the sixth with an RBI single. However, the Cubs pushed the lead back to two in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single from Arlen Peters.

The Cubs put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Cofell and Jager hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 5-1 going into the final inning.

Pick took the mound in the ninth and struck out the side to seal the victory for Brookings.

The Cubs racked up 12 hits as a team. Cofell was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Peters and Jager were each 2-for-4 with an RBI. Bonner was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Winghart and Mitch Olson were each 1-for-3. Zelinsky was 2-for-5 and Rees and Zimmerman were each 1-for-4.

Johnny Checheris got the start on the mound for the Cubs and pitched six innings. He gave up one earned run and three hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Pick pitched the final three innings and gave up no runs and one hit with five strikeouts and one walk.

Monday

Brookings 9, Sioux Falls 0

The Cubs had four pitchers take the mound on Monday night and they combined to give up just one hit.

Peters pitched the first five innings and gave up no runs or hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Jake Ammann pitched two innings and gave up no runs or hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Cofell pitched an inning and gave up no runs and one hit with one strikeout and no walks. Zelinsky pitched the ninth inning and gave up no runs or hits and had two strikeouts and no walks.

Brookings scored two runs in the bottom of the second. Colin Gibson scored on an Olson ground out and then Vasgaard scored on an error by the catcher to make it 2-0.

The Cubs struck for four runs in the bottom of the third. Peters hit an RBI double and then Vasgaard and Olson each hit RBI singles to make it 5-0. The final run of the inning came on a single from Jager.

Gibson came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with two runners on. He would hit one to center field and ended up rounding the bases for an inside the park home run and that made 9-0, which was the final.

The Cubs had 10 hits. Gibson was 1-for-2 with three RBIs and Olson was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Vasgaard was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Jager was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Peters was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Bonner was 2-for-4. Zelinsky was 1-for-4.