BROOKINGS The Brookings Bullets 16U team split a doubleheader with Sioux Falls East in their season opener on Thursday night.
The Bullets came back and won the first game 12-11 before falling 9-1 in game two. Brookings will return to Bob Shelden Field on Friday night when the Bullets play a doubleheader against Renner starting at 5 p.m.
Game 1: Brookings 12, Sioux Falls East 11
Brookings scored three runs in the last two innings to earn the victory in game one.
The Bullets trailed by two heading into the bottom of the fifth and scored one run in that inning. Grant Horn reached on an error with one out and then scored on an error to make it 11-10.
Mack Nelson reached on a dropped third strike to begin the bottom of the sixth. Brennan Cordes then walked to put two runners on. Lincoln Helmbolt advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt and then Nelson scored on a wild pitch. Jace Jaacks would strikeout but Cordes scored on the play to give the Bullets the victory.
Brookings fell behind 6-0 in the top of the first inning. Three-straight walks to start the game loaded the bases for SF East. Another walk scored a run and then a double scored two runs. They followed that with another double that scored two runs and a single sent home one more run to make it 6-0.
Brookings answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Jaacks reached on an error to begin the inning but was then thrown out at second on a Horn fielders choice. Rylan Hesser then reached on catchers interference and Wesden Van Ede made his way to first on an error to load the bases up. Horn came home on a wild pitch and then Eli Ellsworth hit Hesser home with a single. Van Ede eventually came home on a fielders choice from Nelson to cut the lead to 6-3.
SF East extended its lead to 7-3 with an RBI double in the top of the second. Brookings would then make it a one-run game in the bottom of the inning.
Helmbolt walked to begin the half inning and then scored on an error. Hesser then hit an RBI single and Horn scored on a sacrifice fly from Van Ede to make it 7-6.
Each team scored a run in the third. SF Easts run came from a fielders choice. Cordes walked to begin the bottom of the inning and then scored on a Helmbolt double to make it 8-7 heading into the fourth.
SF East would then extend the lead to 11-7 in the top of the fourth. They scored runs from two singles and a double.
Brookings would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth. Ellsworth reached on an error with one out and Jonas Murray followed with a walk. Each runner then came home on a double from Nelson. That began the Bullets comeback to get the win.
Brookings had six hits. Nelson was 1-for-4 with three RBIs and Helmbolt was 1-for-2 with an rBI. Ellsworth, Van Ede and Hesser were all 1-for-3 with an RBI and Jaacks was 1-for-5.
Helmbolt got the start for the Bullets and pitched the first inning. He gave up six runs, five earned, on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks. Ellsworth pitched the next three innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Hesser shut down SF East in the final two innings as he gave up no runs or hit and struck out three of the six batters he faced.
Game 2: Sioux Falls East 9, Brookings 1
SF East jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.They hit a one-out single and then three-straight doubles brought three runs home.
They extended the lead to 6-0 in the top of the second. SF East had a runner reach on an error and back-to-back singles loaded the bases. A run scored on a ground out and then a two-run double made it a six-run game.
Brookings scored a run in the bottom of the second. Nelson reached on an error with one out and then scored on a double from Carter Reicks to make it 6-1.
SF East made it 8-1 in the third. One run came from a single and another came from an error. They scored one more in the seventh after a batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Bullets had four hits in the loss. Reicks was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Jaacks was 1-for-2. Helmbolt and Aiden Adelman were each 1-for-3.
Van Ede pitched the first three innings and gave up eight runs, four earned, nine hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Cordes pitched the final four innings and gave up one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
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