BROOKINGS The Brookings Bandits opened up the legion baseball season on Tuesday night with a doubleheader against Watertown and fell in both games.
Watertown dominated the first game 14-0 in five innings and then took game two 7-5. Brookings will be back in action tonight with a doubleheader against Renner. The first game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Game 1: Watertown 14, Brookings 0 (5 inn.)
A 10-run fourth inning from Watertown and just one hit from the Bandits resulted in a blowout in game one of the doubleheader.
Watertown took the lead in the top of the second with one run. Nathan Briggs reached on an error to begin the inning and made his way to third on the play. He then scored on a Nash Berg single to make it 1-0.
Watertown added three runs in the top of the third. Hayden Ries walked to begin the inning and was hit home on a Mitch Olson double. Olson then came home on a Treyton Himmerich single and Markus Pitkin followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 4-0.
Thats when Post 17 broke the game open as they scored 10 runs in the fourth. The first run of the inning came on a bases loaded walk. That was followed by a two-run single from Kaden Rylance and a three-run triple from Pitkin made it 10-0. Four more RBI singles would make it 14-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Brookings went down one-two-three in both the fourth and the fifth the Bandits lost via the 10-run rule in their first game of the season.
Breck Hirrschoff started the game for the Bandits and picked up the loss. He pitched the first three innings and gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Tate Helmbolt then pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up 10 earned runs on eight hits with a strikeout and two walks. Ryan Lockrem pitched the final inning and a third and gave up no runs on two hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
Zach Struck had the only hit for Brookings. Talan Jurgens pitched a complete game for Watertown and he had three strikeouts and two walks.
Game 2: Watertown 7, Brookings 5
Watertown led 5-1 through four innings and despite a late rally from the Bandits they were able to hang on for the doubleheader sweep.
Brookings took the lead in the first inning. Struck was hit by a pitch with one out and that was followed by a Hirrschoff double. Addison Ronning then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Watertown then scored its first five runs all in the fourth inning. The first three runs came on an error. A two-run double from Briggs then made it 5-1.
The Bandits pulled within two in the fifth. Sam Johnson hit a one-out single and that was followed by back-to-back walks from Helmbolt and Jack Merritt. Struck then hit a two-run single to make it 5-3 heading into the sixth.
Watertown pushed the lead back to four in the top of the sixth with another two-run double from Briggs. Brookings was unable to score in the bottom of the inning but the Bandits were able to give themselves a chance in the seventh.
Helmbolt led off the inning with a walk and Merritt reached on an error. Helmbolt was able to score on a wild pitch and Hirrschoff hit Merritt home with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-5. However, there were two outs and Ronning grounded out to end the game.
Brookings had four hits. Struck was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Ronning was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hirrschoff was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Johnson was 1-for-3.
Owen Schneider started the game for the Bandits and pitched the first four innings. He gave up five unearned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and five walks. Brink pitched the final three innings and gave up two earned runs on two hits with one strikeout and no walks.
Leave a Reply