BROOKINGS – The Bullets used strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting in a Class A youth baseball sweep over the Watertown Red Sox on Monday night at Bob Shelden Field.
Brookings won the opener, 8-4, before blasting the visitors, 12-2, in five innings in the nightcap.
The Bullets travel to Yankton on Thursday for a noon doubleheader.
Game 1
• Brookings 8, Watertown 4
The Bullets jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after an inning when Carter Merritt and Caden McKeown drew walks before Wes Koenig plated a run on a ground out and Mason Bebensee came through with a one-run single with two outs.
Watertown tied the game with two in the second and then took the lead with a run in the third before Brookings battled back in its half of the third.
McKeown singled with one out; Koenig drew a base on balls; Bebensee knocked in both with a double; and then, Kolby Weinberg’s RBI single gave the Bullets a 5-3 lead.
The Red Sox pulled within 5-4 with a lone run in the fourth before Brookings tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Aidan Stewart singled to open the frame and scored on Matt Girard’s RBI double. Girard moved to third on Merritt’s ground out to second before McKeown drew a two-out walk and stole second. Koenig singled up the middle to plate both Girard and McKeown for the final margin.
Girard started the game on the mound and gave up four earned runs on eight walks with one strikeout in 3 2/3 innings before Weinberg came in and tossed a scoreless 2 1/3 frames. Merritt threw the seventh and got out of a bases-loaded jam with a flyout to right field.
BROOKINGS 8, WATERTOWN 4
Watertown 021 100 0 – 4
Brookings 203 003 x – 8
Zach Hirsch, Braxton Lacher (6) and Cael Sutton; Matt Girard, Kolby Weinberg (4), Carter Merritt (7) and Wes Koenig. W – Weinberg. L – Hirsch. 2B: B, Matt Girard.
Game 2
• Brookings 12, Watertown 2
Leading 3-0, the Bullets batted around in the third inning to plate five runs and take control en route to the run-rule victory.
Brookings put up two in the first when Merritt walked and Girard and McKeown had back-to-back hits.
The Bullets added one in the second after Jaysen Williams led off with a single, stole second and later scored on another Girard single.
Brookings sent 11 batters to the plate in the third inning to score five times as the Bullets took advantage of seven walks and a Red Sox error, along with a McKeown two-RBI single.
In the fourth, Merritt walked with the bases loaded before Girard hit a two-run single and Bebensee plated the final run with a ground out for the 10-run win.
Tanner Huber went the distance on the mound, giving up two earned runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
BROOKINGS 12, WATERTOWN 2
Watertown 000 11 – 2
Brookings 215 04 – 12
Cole McElhany, Hudson Block (3) and Braxton Lacher; Tanner Huber and Wes Koenig. W – Huber. L – McElhany. 2B: W, Braxton Lacher, Hudson Block.
Register photo: Matt Girard rips an RBI double during the sixth inning of the Bullets’ 8-4 win over Watertown in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday at Bob Shelden Field. Brookings went on to win the nightcap, 12-2, in five innings.
