BROOKINGS The Brookings Bobcats closed the regular season on a high note by sweeping a doubleheader against the Mitchell Kernels by scores of 14-4 and 13-1 at Bob Shelden Field on Saturday afternoon.
The wins helped the Bobcats finish the regular season with a record of 13-12 ahead of the start of the playoffs with a best-of-three regional series next week.
We talked about coming in here and gaining that momentum, Brookings head coach Carter Roach said of the wins. The kids came in here today ready to go on a beautiful day and it was so much fun. It was a great day at the park.
Game 1: Brookings 14, Mitchell 4
The Kernels jumped ahead in the opening game as Bobcats starter Owen Schneider struggled with his control early. After walking Hudson Borgan and Gavin Jones to lead off the game, Schneider hit Parker Mandel with a pitch before Peyton Mandel delivered a bases-clearing double to give Mitchell a 3-0 lead.
Jaxson Hartman followed up with a double to give the Kernels a 4-0 lead but the Bobcats offense responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Nolan Miles and Tate Helmbolt led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Miles advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on Addison Ronnings sacrifice fly for the first run of the game.
Helmbolt scored on a wild pitch later in the first inning and Brookings took the lead with a six-run bottom of the second inning.
Clark reached on a single before stealing second base and scored on Tyson Antonens RBI single to make it a 4-3 game. Antonen stole second base and advanced to third on an error before Miles singled to drive Antonen in and tie the game at 4-4.
Miles later scored on a passed ball to give the Bobcats the lead and David Brink drove in one run with a double and Schneider delivered a two-run double to give Brookings an 8-4 lead.
I give big credit to our hitters and just our team in general to bounce back there, Roach said of the big inning. They realized there was a lot more game ahead of us and they got in good counts and found great pitches to hit.
Schneider settled down and kept the Kernels off the board after the first inning as the right-hander and finished allowing four earned runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five innings.
Brookings went on to add to the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jack Merritt and a sacrifice fly by Clark and finished the game in the bottom of the fifth when Helmbolt drove in a run with a single and later scored on a passed ball.
Miles finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, three stolen bases and an RBI. Helmbolt finished 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, three stolen bases and an RBI. Ronning went 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Brink finished 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Schneider went 2-for-2 with a double, a run scored, two stolen bases and two RBI.
Merritt went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Clark went 1-for-2 with a stolen base a run scored and an RBI. Antonen went 1-for-3 with a run scored, a stolen base and an RBI.
Game 2: Brookings 13, Mitchell 1
Mitchell took another early lead in the nightcap when Parker Mandel drove in a run with a single in the top of the first inning but Brookings responded with a pair of runs with a two-out rally in the bottom half.
Schneider began the rally with a single before advancing to third base on Ronnings single. Schneider scored and Ronning advanced to second base on an error in the following at-bat before Ronning advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a balk to give Brookings a 2-1 lead.
Jase Bauer led off the bottom of the second inning and courtesy runner Will Conrad stole second base. Merritt was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base before Conrad stole third base and scored on Clarks sacrifice fly.
Antonen drove in Meritt with a double to make it a 4-1 game and Brookings broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI single by Miles and a two-run single by Helmbolt.
Atonen drove in a run with a double and Miles drove in a run on a groundout to put the Bobcats up in the bottom of the fifth inning and Clark delivered a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the sixth inning to finish the game.
Miles allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts to pick up the complete-game victory. He also finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, two RBI and a stolen base.
Antonen finished 2-for-2 with two doubles, a run scored, a walk and three RBI. Helmbolt went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base. Schneider went 1-for-1 with a walk and a run scored. Ronning went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Tane Friedrich went 1-for-1 with a double. Bauer went 1-for-2 with a walk and a double. Mettirr walked once, stole a base and scored twice. Clark went 1-for-2 with a double, three RBI.
With the win, the Bobcats head into a week of practice before their regional playoff matchup and look forward to the challenge ahead.
Weve just got to see what weve been preaching all year, Roach said. Just taking a lot of defensive reps will finely tune our defense and we just need to stay on track and get better at the plate every day.
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