BROOKINGS The Brookings Bandits split a pair of games at the 2024 South Dakota State Class A American Legion Tournament on Thursday. But while they lost the resumption of a suspended game to Renner 1-0 and won an elimination game over Brandon Valley 3-0, the Bandits have leaned on pitching and defense to help them become one of the final four teams in the tournament.
Weve had a lot of great pitching but our defense has been really good this season, Bandits coach Alec Johnson said. Weve had games where weve had four or five even six errors but our defense has come a long way and that just gives pitchers the confidence knowing the defense they have behind them.
Renner 1, Brookings 0
The Bandits used a tremendous start from Tyson Antonen to pull off an upset over Rapid City Post 22 on Tuesday night and got a shutout inning from Austin Clark to begin Wednesday nights game against Renner before the game was suspended in the bottom of the second inning due to weather.
Clark resumed the game for the Bandits and picked up where he left off, holding Renner to two hits entering the sixth inning but Renner pitcher Jackson Bjorkman, who took over for Jake Wheeler after he threw 44 pitches in the first two innings on Wednesday night was just as good to keep the game scoreless.
Bjorkman retired the first seven batters he faced and helped Renner remain deadlocked until it mounted a rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sullivan Schlimgen drew a two-out walk to begin the rally before Zachary Dunham singled and Hunter Den Boer was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Clark hit Brogan Moffitt with the next pitch to drive in the go-ahead run but Brookings put the tying run on base with Jack Merritts head-first slide on a one-out single. A fielders choice by Sam Johnson kept the tying run on first base before Tate Helmbolt was called out on a check-swing to end the game.
Despite the sixth inning, it was a brilliant performance by Clark, who finished the game allowing one earned run on three hits and four walks over six innings.
Helmbolt (2-for-4) and Merritt (2-for-3) also had multi-hit days at the plate, but Brookings was held to just five hits in the game with Owen Schneider going 1-for-3.
Bjorkman allowed two hits and a walk with four strikeouts over five innings of relief while Kyle Konechne, Dunham and Braylon Bear each went 1-for-2. Konechne also had a walk, a double and a stolen base.
Brookings 3, Brandon Valley 0
While Clarks performance was impressive, it carried over to Zach Struck, who had an interesting path to Thursdays start.
Struck was originally scheduled to start Wednesdays game before he was hit in the head with a foul ball during the game between Harrisburg and Watertown on Wednesday afternoon. Although he received stitches for his injury, Struck pinch-hit in the final inning of the loss to Renner and took the mound for an elimination game against Brandon Valley.
The injury didnt affect Struck, who tossed six shutout innings, allowing three hits and four walks with a strikeout to keep Brandon Valley off the board and the Bandits tournament hopes alive.
Hes a hockey guy, so he probably would have played the whole game yesterday if he could have, Johnson laughed. But if you picked one guy that could throw a game like he did after that injury, Zach would have been the unanimous decision.
With Struck leading the way, Brookings had an efficient day at the plate to advance to the final four. Nolan Miles reached on a walk and Addison Ronning was hit by a pitch to put two runners on to open the top of the second inning and RBI singles by Tyson Antonen and Sam Johnson gave the Bandits a 2-0 lead.
Helmbolt drew a walk to lead off the top of the fifth inning and advanced to second base on a wild pitch before Breck Hirrschoff moved him over with a groundout. Schneider drove Helmbolt in with a sacrifice fly in the following at-bat and it was all the run support they needed to eliminate Brandon Valley and move on in the tournament.
Schneider finished the game for Brookings, striking out two batters in a perfect seventh inning out of the bullpen.
Ryland Carroll started for Brandon Valley, allowing three earned runs on two hits and five walks with five strikeouts over six innings. Bryton Stroh pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Stroh, Chase Leary and Max Peters each went 1-for-3 for Brandon Valley in the loss.
Up next
The win helped Brookings improve to 2-1 in the tournament with an elimination game against Watertown on Friday at 4 p.m. While pitching and defense have gotten them this far, Johnson believes it will take a full team effort to earn three wins over the next two days to win the state title.
It comes down to all 14 guys and thats something weve talked about with the guys in the field and the guys on the bench, Johnson said. It takes everybody. Its not just those guys playing. So I think now that we have seen that we can play against some of the best teams in the state, we know that we have what it takes to win three more games.
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