BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bobcats were swept in a best-of-three regional series in the SDHSBA Playoffs, falling to the Sioux Falls Roosevelt Rough Riders by scores of 3-1 on Friday night and 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Bob Shelden Stadium.

The losses dropped the Bobcats to 13-14 on the season and helped the Rough Riders advance to next weekend’s State Tournament in Sioux Falls.

“You have to give credit to Sioux Falls Roosevelt,” Roach said. “They came in and they came out firing. Both of their starters went deep into the games and kind of kept us off-kilter at the plate. They made the plays when they needed to make them and got the hits when they needed them.”

Game 1: Sioux Falls Roosevelt 3, Brookings 1

The first game of the series was a pitching duel as Owen Schneider and Roosevelt’s Jacob Mongar exchanged zeros in the opening innings.

The Bobcats went down in order in each of the first two innings before Roosevelt put together a threat with back-to-back singles by Lawsen Hensley and Tucker DeHaan in the top of the third. With two men on, David Brink made a diving stop on a line drive off the bat of Jaxsen Grevengoed’s bat for the first out and Schneider struck out Mongar and got Jaxon DeHaan to ground out to get out of the inning.

It was part of a solid start for Schneider, who allowed two hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 5.1 innings but the Bobcats left several runs on the basepaths.

The Bobcats mounted their first threat in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back walks by Tate Helmbolt and Schneider and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch to put runners on second and third base with nobody out. Addison Ronning grounded out to Noah Verdoorn a few pitches later, however, and Helmbolt was tagged out trying to score on a fielder’s choice.

With Schneider still on second base, he advanced to third base on a passed ball but rounded third and attempted to score, getting tagged out for the second out of the inning. Brink grounded out to end the fourth and Brookings wouldn’t mount another threat until the bottom of the sixth.

Antonen reached on a leadoff error and Nolan Miles grounded into a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat before Helmbolt reached on a single and Schneider drew a walk to load the bases with one out.

Ronning cashed in with a single that drove Miles in for the first run of the game but Brink lined into a double play in the next at-bat when Logan Edwards caught the ball off his bat at first base and doubled up Schneider at second base.

“With playoff baseball, sometimes things just come at you kind of fast,” Roach said of the mental mistakes. “I think our miscues on the basepaths really held us back in that first game.”

Miles attempted to close the game in the top of the seventh inning but issued a leadoff walk to Tyson Albertsen. Verdoorn sacrificed Albertson to second base with a bunt before Hensley singled and advanced to second base on the throw to put runners on second and third with one out before Tucker DeHaan tied the game with a sacrifice fly that allowed Albertsen to score and Hensley to advance to third base.

Miles’s day on the mound came to an end when he hit Grevengoed with a pitch to put runners on the corners and Mongar reached and advanced to second base on an error by Brink that allowed Hensley to score and Grevengoed to advance to third base. Jaxon DeHaan singled dove in Grevengoed for an insurance run and the Bobcats headed to the bottom of the seventh inning down 3-1.

Tane Friedrich led off the seventh with a walk and advanced to third when Jack Merritt reached on a two-base error. But with two runners in scoring position and nobody out Hensley buckled down striking out Clark and Antonen before getting pinch hitter Jase Bauer to ground out to end the game.

Helmbolt recorded two outs to finish the sixth inning for Brookings before Miles allowed three runs (two earned) on one hit and a walk. Clark allowed one hit before getting the final out in the seventh inning.

Helmbolt went 1-for-2 with a walk. Ronning went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Merritt went 1-for-3 with a double and Friedrich had a stolen base.

Game 2: Sioux Falls Roosevelt 5, Brookings 4

The Bobcats came into the series needing to win two games to keep their season alive but a rocky start put those plans in jeopardy. The Bobcats didn’t have a runner get past second base in the first three innings before the Rough Riders mounted a four-run rally in the bottom of the third inning.

The rally began when Verdoorn reached on a slow-rolling single to Antonen with one out Hensley flew out for the second out of the inning. Clark hit Tucker DeHaan with a pitch with a full count to put another runner on and Grevengoed walked on four pitches to load the bases.

Mongar drove in the first run of the game after being hit by a pitch and although Clark got Austin Hillbrands to ground out to Brink, his throw sailed wide of first base and allowed three runs to score to give the Rough Riders a 4-0 lead.

Verdoorn drove in another run with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning but it was a footnote on another solid start for the Bobcats as Clark allowed one earned run (five total) on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

“Hats off to Owen and Austin for coming in and really battling for us on the mound this weekend,” Roach said. “It really kept us in the games at the times we needed them, so that was big for us.”

Helmbolt tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schneider to make it a 5-1 game in the top of the fifth inning but the Bobcats’ bats didn’t really get going until the top of the seventh inning.

Schneider began the rally with a one-out double down the left field line and Ronning walked in the next at-bat before Brink made it a 5-2 game with an RBI single. But Brink was picked off for the second out of the game during Friedrich’s at-bat before he doubled into the left field gap to drive in Ronning to cut the lead to 5-3.

Bauer singled to drive in another run and represent the tying run on first base but Merritt struck out on three pitches to end the game and send the Rough Riders to the State Tournament.

“Their starting pitching did a really good job but once we got to the bullpen, we started putting better swings on baseballs,” Roach said. “We got in better hitting counts again as well but hats off to their starters this weekend.”

Schneider finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles while Bauer went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Helmbolt went 1-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. Brink went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Friedrich went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Merritt went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Sam Johnson and Ronning each drew a walk with Ronning scoring a run.

The loss stings and puts an end to the Bobcats’ season but Roach says his team they’ll go to work to prepare for the legion season where many of this year’s players will be playing for the Post 74 Bandits this summer.

“We just have to look at it as a positive thing that a brand new season is coming up,” Roach said. “Switching from the spring to the legion season…we’re just going to take a couple of days off, refresh, recharge the batteries and come back ready to go.”

Brookings will start its legion season May 28 when it hosts Watertown at Bob Shelden Field.