BROOKINGS – After a tough road trip out west, the Brookings Bobcats have benefitted from a return to Bob Shelden Stadium, winning a pair of games during a doubleheader with Sioux Falls Jefferson on Tuesday afternoon.

The wins, which came by scores of 10-2 and 5-3, helped Brookings improve to 8-6 on the season and continued a stretch where the Bobcats will play their final 19 games of the spring season at home.

“It’s huge,” Brookings head coach Carter Roach said of the stretch. “The boys love playing at home. We have an awesome field and I feel like we bring a little more energy playing at home and they felt that tonight.”

Brookings 10, Sioux Falls Jefferson 2
The Bobcats came into Tuesday night looking to regain their early season form. After winning the first four games of the year, the Bobcats lost six of their next seven games including a doubleheader sweep against Brandon Valley on Saturday afternoon.

But things started to change in the second half of a doubleheader against Rapid City Stevens when Owen Schneider went out and led a 3-1 victory on the mound. The win provided some much-needed momentum for Brookings and led them into Tuesday night.

“We grinded for a split on Sunday and we went to practice and worked hard,” Roach said. “I told the guys to turn the page here and we really brought it tonight.”

The Bobcats’ momentum was evident early when Tate Helmbolt drew a one-out walk and was driven in with Addison Ronnings’s triple to give Brookings a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Brookings added to the lead when David Brink drew a leadoff walk and scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second inning. Nolan Miles drove in a run later in the inning with a groundout to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead they took into the bottom of the third inning.

Helmbolt led off the third with a single and scored on a Schneider triple to make it 4-0. Ronning drew a walk in the next at-bat before Merritt drove in two runs on a triple to put Brookings up 6-0.

Tane Friedrich capped the third inning with a single to make it a 7-0 game and Jefferson got a pair of runs on an RBI triple by Braylon Bear and an RBI groundout by Easton Riley in the top of the fourth inning.

Those runs were the only damage against starter Tyson Antonen, however, who allowed both runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a complete-game victory.

Brookings added to its lead when Johnson stole home in the bottom of the fifth inning and finished the scoring with a two-run single by Friedrich in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was the beginning of a solid offensive night that Roach believes was fueled by their approach at the plate as well as their aggressiveness on the basepaths.

“We got some really timely hits and we rean the bases tremendously well,” Roach said. “We stole some bases and even had some first-to-third situations that led to some scoring plays which were really big for us. When we run the bases well and get those timely hits, it sets us up for success.”

Friedrich finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. Schneider went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

Ronning went 1-for-1 with a triple, an RBI, two runs scored and three RBI. Jack Merritt went 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Helmbolt went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, two walks and a stolen base. Brink walked twice and scored a run and Johnson went 1-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases.

Brookings 5, Sioux Falls Jefferson 3
The Bobcats took another early lead in the bottom of the first inning when Helmbolt drew a walk and Schneider followed up with a one-out single. Merritt cashed in on a double that gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead and Brink followed up with an RBI single to put Brookings up 3-0.

Ryder Stubbles stole home for the Cavaliers to make it a 4-3 game in the top of the fifth inning but Brookings got a run back when Schneider stole home in the bottom of the fifth inning.

That was enough for Miles on the mound, who allowed three unearned runs on five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts to get the win and continue the momentum that Schneider brought in his performance against Rapid City Stevens on Saturday afternoon.

“Owen took the ball for us in a spot where we needed a big start and he gave it to us,” Roach recalled. “I told the pitching staff after the game to look at how Owen got the heavy hitters, attacked and let the defense work. Tyson and Nolan did a tremendous job tonight of getting ahead of hitters and letting our defense work behind them.”

Merritt finished 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in the win while Helmbolt, Schneider, Brink and Antonen each finished with a single. Schneider had three stolen bases while Ronning and Brink had one stolen base each.

The win gave the Bobcats some much-needed momentum as they look to keep things going in a doubleheader against Pierre at Bob Shelden Field on Friday night.

“We are tremendously lucky to have the facility that we have and playing in front of an awesome community that loves watching baseball,” Roach said. “That’s tremendous and there’s something about playing on your home turf and knowing how it plays. I really feel that plays to our advantage.”