WATERTOWN — The Brookings Bombers Black team won the 14U State Tournament on Sunday after going 3-0 in the championship bracket.

Brookings went 1-2 in pool play, but made it to the championship bracket due to having a run differential of -1. The Bombers then beat Rapid City Post 22 11-9 and Brandon Valley 1-0 before topping Renner 12-3 in the title game.
The Bombers finished the season with a record of 44-10.

Brookings 11, Rapid City Post 22 9

The Bombers led 11-5 through four and half innings and were able to stave off a late rally from the Cadets to keep their season alive.

Brookings scored two runs in the top of the first. Jude Meendering led off the game with an RBI double and Ben Schulte followed with a walk. Meendering scored on a steal of home and Schulte scored on a sacrifice fly from Baker Hanson to make it 2-0.

The Bombers scored two more runs in the top of the second. Meendering walked and Schulte reached on an error. Both runners then scored on an error to make it 4-0. However, a run from an error, an RBI double and a two-run single gave Rapid City a 5-4 lead heading into the third.

Brookings regained the lead right away in the top of the third as the Bombers scored five runs. Dixon Dauer was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Kooper Henderson followed with a single. Dauer scored on an error and Henderson came home on a bases loaded walk to make it 6-5. Nolan Krogman then came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a bases clearing triple to push the lead to 9-5.

Brookings added two more runs in the top of the fifth. Hanson was hit by a pitch with one out and then Noah Lease hit a two-out single and Dauer was hit by a pitch to load the bases up. Henderons then hit Krogman home with a single and Lease scored on an error to extend the lead to 11-5.

Rapid City scored a run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 11-6. Then a two-run double in the sixth made it 11-8. A bases-loaded walk in the seventh made it a two-run game but Krogman was able to get the final out and keep the Bombers in the tournament.

Brookings had 10 hits in the win. Krogman was 1-for-5 with three RBIs and Henderson was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Schulte was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Meendering was 3-for-4. Lease was 2-for-4 and Hanson had an RBI without a hit.

Grant Horn got the start for Brookings and pitched five and a third innings. He gave up eight runs, two earned, on six hits with three strikeouts and five walks. Mason Diers pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up one earned run and had two walks. Krogman pitched the final inning and gave up no hits and had two strikeouts and a walk.

Brookings 1, Brandon Valley 0

An RBI double from Krogman in the top of the sixth was the game’s only run and that advanced the Bombers to the state championship game. Ben Schulte led off the sixth with a single and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Hanson to set up the game-winning double from Krogman.

Brookings had six hits as a team. Krogman was 1-for-1 with an RBI and Garret Wipf, Lease, Schulte, Dauer and Henderson were all 1-for-3.

Henderson pitched the first five innings for the Bombers. He gave up five hits and had three strikeouts and two walks. Lease pitched the final two and had a strikeout and a walk.

Brookings 12, Renner 3

The Bombers got the offense going once again in the championship as they had 12 hits as a team and took care of business to win the tournament.

Brookings scored four runs in the top of the first. Meendering led off the game with a single but was then caught stealing. Hanson and Krogman then hit back-to-back two-out singles and Lease reached on an error to load the bases up. Dauer hit Hanson home with a single and then Henderson had a bases clearing double to put the Bombers up 4-0.

Renner got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single, but the Bombers responded with two runs in the top of the fourth. Meendering walked with one out and then made his way home on a two-out triple from Hanson. Krogman followed with a triple of his own and that made it 6-1.

Brookings scored three more runs in the top of the sixth. Hanson was hit by a pitch with one out and then scored on a steal of home. Krogman walked and scored on an RBI triple from Dauer to make it 8-1 and then Dauer scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 9-1.

A two-run single in the bottom of the sixth cut the lead to 9-3, but the Bombers scored three runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away. Meendering led off the seventh and reached on an error. Schulte followed with a walk and Hanson singled to load the bases up with no outs. Meendering scored on a bases-loaded walk from Krogman and both Schulte and Hanson scored on an error to make it 12-3 heading into the final half inning and the Bombers took care of business in the field.

Krogman was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Dauer was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Henderson was 1-for-4 with three RBIs and Hanson was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Wipf was 1-for-3 and Meendering was 1-for-4. Horn was 2-for-3 and Lease had an RBI without a hit.

Krogman got the start for the Bombers and pitched two innings. He gave up no runs and two hits with one strikeout and no walks. Hanson pitched the next inning and two thirds and gave up one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout and one walk. Horn pitched a third of an inning and did not give up a hit. Lease pitched two innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Lincoln Helmbolt pitched the final inning and gave up one hit.