Bobcats take two from Douglas

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BROOKINGS – The Bobcats made it three wins in a row with a sweep of Douglas on Sunday at Bob Shelden Field.

Brookings won the opener, 4-1, and then shut out the Patriots, 16-0, in a run-shortened Game 2.

The ‘Cats close the regular season tonight with a home game against Harrisburg. First pitch is at 6 p.m.

 Brookings 4, Douglas 1

Cole McElhany allowed eight Patriot hits, but allowed just one earned run in a complete-game win as he struck out four and walked one.

Douglas bunched three of those hits together in the first inning as Bradley Anderson led off with a single; moved to second on Trent Oatka’s base hit and then scored on Willie Moffit’s two-out RBI single.

But the Bobcats answered in the bottom of the frame to tie the game and then added single runs in the third, fourth and fifth as they made the most of their three hits, but they were helped out by three walks and a Douglas error.

Tyler Kreutner took one for the team to lead off the bottom of the first; stole second and went to third on the overthrow; and then, scored on Ryan McMacken’s one-out sacrifice fly to left field.

Tanner Shepardson was hit by a pitch leading off the third. He stole second; went to third on McMacken’s ground out to short; and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-1 Bobcat lead.

Christian Mediger drew a one-out walk in the fourth; advanced to second on Cole Mahlum’s base hit; moved to third on Kreutner’s single; and then scored on Shepardson’s flyout to center field to make it 3-1, Brookings.

In the fifth, Rhett Zelinksy took one for the team to get on base with two outs. He went to second on a wild pitch and then stole third. With Luze on first via a base on balls, the Bobcats pulled off a double steal to push their advantage to 4-1.

Zane Schlaback suffered the loss after surrendering four earned runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

BROOKINGS 4, DOUGLAS 1

Douglas 100 000 0    1  8  1

Brookings 101 110 x    4  3  0

Zane Schlaback and Curtis Johnson; Cole McElhany and Cole Mahlum. W – McElhany. L – Schlaback.

 Brookings 16, Douglas 0

The Patriots gave up seven walks and committed four errors as Brookings put up 16 runs in four at-bats.

Shepardson earned the win after allowing three hits with one walks and three strikeouts.

The Bobcats scored in the first after Kreutner was hit by a pitch; advanced to second on a walk; moved to third on Shepardson’s groundout; and then scored on a wild pitch.

It didn’t get any better for the visitors as Brookings sent 13 batters to the dish in the second en route to an eight-run inning. Daniel Messerli had an RBI single and Luze later drove in a run with a base hit as the ‘Cats drew four walks, had a hit batter and took advantage of two Douglas errors.

Zelinsky drove in two runs in the third with a single as Brookings tacked on three more in the frame.

The Bobcats added four runs in the fourth as Parker Rykhus had an RBI single.

Isiah Dubrog suffered the loss after giving up seven runs – three earned – in 1 1/3 innings as he allowed one hit and walked two. Jarron Helstein gave up two earned runs on two hits and two walks with a strikeout in 2/3 of a frame. Colling Bettinger threw the last two frames and surrendered seven runs – three earned – on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

BROOKINGS 16, DOUGLAS 0

Douglas 000 00      0  3  4

Brookings 183 4x    16  7  0

Isiah Dubrog, Jarron Helstein (2), Colling Bettinger (3) and Curtis Johnson, Noah Usna (3); Tanner Shepardson and Cole Mahlum. W – Shepardson. L – Dubrog. 3B: D, Zane Schlaback.

Register photo: Second baseman Brock Luze tags out Douglas’ baserunner Jarron Helstein before throwing to first to complete a double play during the fourth inning of the Bobcats’ 4-1 win over the Patriots in the first game on Sunday at Bob Shelden Field.