BROOKINGS – The Post 74 Bandits are as white hot as a firework as they entered into the Independence Day holiday weekend, running their winning streak to 11 straight games with a sweep of Sioux Falls Post 15 West on Friday afternoon at Bob Shelden Field.
Zach Struck’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh scored the only run of the opener, a 1-0 Bandits win, while Brookings scored multiple runs in four of the first five innings to complete the sweep with an 11-4 win.
Brookings (18-8) returns to action today with a doubleheader at home against Brandon Valley beginning at 5 p.m.
Game One
• Brookings 1, SF West 0
The Bandits’ Breck Hirrschoff dueled with West’s Dexter Payne for the first six innings before Payne’s pitch count necessitated a reliever to start the seventh while Hirrschoff had yet to hit the 70-pitch mark through six innings.
West put the first batter of the game on via an error on Hirrschoff, but the Post 74 hurler got himself out of trouble with a pair of ground outs and a fly out.
Hirrschoff singled with one out and Nathan Lease drew a walk with two outs in the bottom of the first but Brookings could not find a timely hit, a theme for the first six innings of the game, as both were left stranded.
The Bandits left a runner on base in the second and the had the bases loaded with two outs in the third but could not sneak a run across the plate. Brookings would also leave two runners on in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two in the sixth.
West would threaten in the seventh as Treyson Harty-Olsen and Brayden Byrum singled, but Hirrschoff was again up to the task, striking out Post 15’s Kyler Miritello and Alex Brosnahan to put an end to the threat, the game still scoreless entering the bottom of the seventh.
Brookings’ Justin Cofell led off the seventh with a base hit to left but was caught stealing second on a delayed steal attempt gone wrong. Lease would then slap a single of his own which could have put runners on the corners but instead the Bandits had just one on with one out.
Henry Hammrich went down swinging for the second out of the inning, and after Parker Winghart drew three straight balls, the third of which went to the backstop and allowed Lease to move to second base, Winghart was intentionally walked to set up a force.
Josh Devine entered as a pinch runner for Lease and took third on another passed ball before Struck delivered the game-winner up the middle, scoring Devine, and giving the Bandits the 1-0 win via walk-off.
Cofell finished with two of Brookings’ seven hits while Hirrschoff, Lease, Hammrich, and Winghart all singled in addition to Struck’s game-winning base hit.
Hirrschoff limited West to just four hits over seven innings while not walking a batter and striking out six. He needed just 78 pitches to toss finish off the win.
Byrum suffered the loss for West as he allowed the lone run on three hits and a walk. The game-winning run was unearned as a result of the two passed balls prior to the walk-off hit.
Game Two
• Brookings 11, SF West 4
The Bandits’ bats came out strong in the second game of the doubleheader.
Lincoln Hardin singled to lead off the bottom of the first and moved to third on Hirrschoff’s double. Lincoln Hardin would score on a passed ball which allowed Hirrschoff to move to third, and he would score two pitches later on Lease’s sacrifice fly, giving Brookings a 2-0 lead after one inning.
West again went scoreless in the second and the Bandits added to their lead.
Winghart and Struck both singled to begin the inning. Winghart would later score on a wild pitch, and after a strikeout and Lincoln Hardin drawing a walk, yet another wild pitch scored Struck before Hirrschoff plated Lincoln Hardin with a base hit and upped the Bandits’ lead to 5-0.
Nick Pellicotte doubled to open the third for West, and after Noah Goodroad and Ryan Rysavy walked to load the bases, Pellicotte scored on a wild pitch and Goodroad scored on Isaac Adam’s ground out to cut the Post 74 edge to 5-2.
Brookings got back the two runs in their half of the third and added an extra run for good measure.
Hammrich and Winghart were both hit by pitches with one out, then Struck walked on five pitches. Sam Hardin earned an RBI the hard way after also wearing a pitch before both Winghart and Struck scored on more wild pitches, increasing the Bandits’ lead to 8-2 after three innings.
Hunter Robinson’s one-out triple would turn into the third West run after being driven in by Goodroad as West cut the lead to 8-3, and for the first time in the game the Bandits failed to score in an inning as the score remained the same going to the bottom of the fifth before Brookings once again plated three runs.
Devine walked, as did Cofell. Both would score on Lease’s stand-up triple. Austin Clark would then walk before the eighth wild pitch of the game by West pitching scored Lease, giving Brookings a 11-3 lead heading to the sixth inning.
Pellicotte reached on an error with two outs and Goodroad doubled to move Pellicotte to third. Rysavy then singled to score Pellicotte but Goodroad was tagged out at home while also trying to score on a perfect throw from Payton Theodosopoulos from right field, limiting West to a single run in the frame.
The Bandits went quietly in their half of the sixth and a one-out single by Byrum in the seventh for West was left stranded as Lease tossed the final inning to lock down the win for Post 74.
Despite scoring 11 runs the Bandits had just six hits. Hirrschoff had two of the six while Lincoln Hardin, Lease, Winghart, and Struck all had one hit each. Lease drove in three runs while Hirrschoff’s double also plated one.
Brookings drew nine walks and were hit by three pitches, and put two more runners on thanks to a pair of errors from the Post 15 defense.
Lincoln Hardin threw the first three innings and allowed a pair of earned runs on a single hit and three walks before coming out of the game, giving way to Ashton Witte who picked up the win. Witte tossed two innings and allowed four hits and struck out two while giving up one earned run.
Cofell pitched the sixth inning and allowed one unearned run on two hits, while Lease gave up a two-out single in the seventh.
Harty-Olsen took the loss for West, allowing eight runs (six earned) on five hits, walking three, hitting three batters, and striking out three in two and two-third innings on the bump.
Brosnahan gave up three earned runs in two and a third innings, walking six while striking out two.
