Cubs named co-champions in Minnesota tournament

ARLINGTON, Minn. – The Brookings Cubs were named co-champions of a tournament in Arlington, Minn., over the weekend after the title game was rained out on Sunday.

Brookings beat the Prior Lake Jays in its first game of the tournament on Saturday. The Cubs would then top the Twin City Saints on Sunday and were supposed to play the Eagle Lake Expos in the championship but that game got canceled.

The Cubs are now 6-0 on the season. Brookings plays at the Sioux Falls Brewers on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. They will then play at Renner on Sunday at 7 p.m. before hosting Brandon on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Brookings 4, Prior Lake 2

Each game was seven innings in the tournament. The Cubs scored two runs in the bottom of the first and then Prior Lake would tie the game in the top of the sixth. Brookings would then score two runs in the bottom of the sixth and kept the Jays off the board in the top of the seventh.

Carson Jager reached on a dropped third strike to begin the bottom of the first. Parker Winghart came to the plate two batters later. He hit a triple and then scored on an error to make it 2-0.

Prior Lake’s run in the top of the third came on a double play. In the top of the sixth, the Jays loaded the bases with no outs and then scored on a wild pitch. However, they weren’t able to score another run and it was 2-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Lincoln Vasgaard led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and Mitch Olson followed with a single. Noah Buss then hit a double that allowed both runners to score and that made it 4-2. Prior Lake got one runner on in the top of the seventh with a hit batter but the Cubs were able to get through the half inning unscathed and won the game.

The Cubs had nine hits as a team. Buss was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Winghart had 2-for-3 with an RBI. Justin Cofell was 2-for-3 and Olson, Vasgaard and Johnny Checheris were each 1-for-3.

Arlen Peters got the start on the mound for the Cubs. He pitched the first six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits with 11 strikeouts and six walks. Logan Anderson got the final three outs for Brookings. He gave up no runs or hits and had one strikeout.

Sunday

Brookings 12, Twin City Saints 5

The Cubs led 4-1 after the first four innings and then outscored the Saints 8-4 in the final three innings.

Brookings struck for four runs in the top of the second. The Cubs had the bases loaded with no outs after Buss was hit by a pitch and Michael Zimmerman and Olson hit back-to-back singles. Buss scored on a sacrifice fly from Vasgaard and then Zimmerman scored on a Logan Anderson ground out to make it 2-0. Jager then hit Olson home with a single and Rhett Zelinsky hit an RBI double to push the lead to 4-0.

The Saints run in the bottom of the second came on a passed ball. Brookings would then score two runs in the top of the fifth. The Cubs loaded the bases again with no outs as Buss singled, Zimmerman walked and Olson singled. Buss scored on a Vasgaard sacrifice fly and Zimmerman scored on a Cofell sacrifice fly to make it 6-1.

The Cubs knocked in two more runs in the top of the sixth. Winghart hit a one-out single and Buss followed with a double. Buss would then score on a Zimmerman sacrifice fly and then Olson scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 9-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.

The Saints scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The first two came from bases-loaded walks and then a two-run single made it 9-5 going into the seventh.

Brookings put the game away in the top of the seventh with three more runs. Zelinsky hit an RBI single and then scored on a Winghart triple to make it 11-5. Winghart then came home on a Nolan Miles ground out to extend the lead to 12-5. The Saints had one runner in the bottom of the seventh with a hit batter but they were unable to score and the final was 12-5.

The Cubs racked up 18 hits as a team. Zelinsky was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Vasgaard was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Jager and Winghart were each 2-for-4 with an RBI. Zimmerman was 3-for-3 with an RBI and Cofell was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Anderson was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Olson was 2-for-4. Miles had an RBI without a hit and Buss was 2-for-3. 

Reid Barnard pitched the first five innings for the Cubs. He gave up one earned run on four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Jager pitched two thirds of an innings and gave up four earned runs on no hits with two strikeouts and four walks. Winghart pitched the final innings and a third and gave up no runs and one hit with one strikeout and one walk.