WATERTOWN – The Brookings Bullets continued their inspired play at the 16U Class A State Baseball Tournament, but came up short in the championship game to finish second.
Brookings beat Watertown, 9-7, in Sunday’s semifinal game before falling, 11-1, to Renner in the title match.
Championship
• Renner 11, Brookings 1
The Dukes scored three runs in the first two frames before adding a single run in the third and then two in both the fourth and fifth to end the game early via the 10-run rule.
Renner finished with nine hits – four for extra bases – and used five Bullet errors to plate the 11 runs.
Brookings scored its lone run in the third inning when Matthew Girard reached on a fielder’s choice; moved to third on Tanner Huber’s single; and then scored on Carter Merritt’s base hit.
Girard had a double while Wes Koenig and Jeffrey Fuks both singled as the Bullets finished with five hits.
Mason Bebensee suffered the loss on the mound after giving up seven runs – four earned – on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts over three innings of work.
Huber threw the final two innings and surrendered four runs – two earned – on three hits.
RENNER 11, BROOKINGS 1
Renner 331 22 – 11 9 0
Brookings 001 00 – 1 5 5
Harry Hueners and Teegan Schlimgen; Mason Bebensee, Tanner Huber and Wes Koenig. W – Hueners. L – Bebensee. 2B: R, Aspen Dahl, Teegan Schlimgen; B, Matthew Girard. 3B: R, Teegan Schlimgen, Dalton Garbers.
Semifinal
• Brookings 9, Watertown 7
The Bullets built a 6-0 lead through four innings before Watertown tied the game with a six-run fifth.
Brookings plated a run in the bottom of the fifth, but a run in the top of the sixth tied the game again before the Bullets scored two in the sixth and held on for the win.
In the first, Merritt reached on a fielder’s choice; stole second; and scored on Koenig’s single. Koenig advanced to second on the throw before Weinberg drove him in with a double.
In the third, Huber led off with a single and then stole second. After Merritt took one for the team, Koenig cleared the bases with a double. Koenig moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Weinberg’s sacrifice fly for the 5-0 lead.
Caden McKeown led off the fourth with a single and then stole second and third. He scored on a single by Huber for the six-run advantage.
In the fifth, Watertown used three hit batters, two walks, one hit and two Bullet errors to plate six runs to tie the game at 6-6 through 4 1/2 innings.
Nick Schefers led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and moved to second when Messerli was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Watertown misplayed Girard’s ground ball to shortstop as Schefers scored to give the Bullets a 7-6 lead.
After Watertown tied the game in the sixth, the Bullets put the game away with two in the bottom.
Merritt led off with an infield single; stole second; and tagged up on Koenig’s flyout to center to reach third. Schefers walked with one out and stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Daniel Messerli came through with a two-out single to plate Merritt and Schefers for the 9-7 advantage.
Weinberg gave up a leadoff single in the seventh and then balked with one out to advance the runner to second. But a groundball out to Huber at short and a flyout to Messerli in center ended the game and sent the Bullets to the championship.
Weinberg earned the win in relief after giving up one earned run on three hits and a walk over the final 2 1/3 innings.
Aidan Stewart started and allowed three earned runs on three walks with three strikeouts in four innings of work. Girard gave up three unearned runs on a hit and a walk in 2/3 of an inning of relief.
BROOKINGS 9, WATERTOWN 7
Watertown 000 061 0 – 7 4 1
Brookings 203 112 x – 9 11 3
Brandon Zaug, Hunter Lee (4) and Ben Althoff; Aidan Stewart, Matthew Girard (5), Kolby Weinberg (5) and Wes Koenig. W – Weinberg. L – Lee. 2B: B, Jeffrey Fuks, Wes Koenig, Kolby Weinberg.
Saturday – Pool Play
• Brookings 22, Pierre 7
The Bullets cruised to the victory to win their pool with a 3-1 record.
Brookings totaled 12 hits, drew 18 free passes (12 walks) and took advantage of seven Pierre errors.
Mason Bebensee pitched three innings to earn the win. He allowed just one run on three hits and three walks with one strikeout.
Brookings put up a 10-spot in the third inning, before adding three in the fourth and nine more in the fifth.
Carter Merritt went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Dan Messerli was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Kolby Weinberg tallied two hits and two RBIs. Matthew Girard totaled three RBIs; Tanner Huber and Jaysen Williams contributed two apiece; and Nick Schefers added one.
Nine different Bullets scored at least two runs – led by Messerli’s four and Huber’s three.
BROOKINGS 22, PIERRE 7 (5 inn.)
Brookings 00(10) 39 – 22 11 1
Pierre 001 51 – 7 7 7
Mason Bebensee, Tanner Huber (4), Kolby Weinberg and Wes Koenig; Elliot Leif, Daniel Tafoya (3), Michael Merriman (4), Jacob Larson (4) and Andy Gordon. W – Bebensee. L – Leif.
Courtesy photo: The 2018 Brookings Bullets took second in the Class A 16U State Baseball Tournament over the weekend in Watertown. Members of the team include (from left): Front row – Jaysen Williams, Carter Merritt, Matthew Girard, Wes Koenig, Caden McKeown and Jeffrey Fuks; Back row – Coach Chuck Huth, Coach Colin Huber, Mason Bebensee, Kolby Weinberg, Daniel Messerli, Nick Schefers, Tanner Huber, Aidan Stewart and Coach Nick Brown.
