Amateur baseball roundup for July 29: Crofton, Dell Rapids Mudcats win district titles
Jul. 29—CROFTON, Neb. — Consistent early scoring and a strong pitching effort from Capp Bengston lifted Crofton to the District 6B amateur baseball championship on Saturday night over Tabor by a score of 8-4.
Bengston threw eight innings, allowing three unearned runs and eight hits, while striking out a pair of Bluebirds batters. Andy Knapp had three hits and scored twice for the Bluejays, while Colton Schieffer, Lathan Maibaum and Seth Wiebelhaus each had two hits for tournament host Crofton. Zach Hegge threw the ninth inning and struck out three batters to close the game for the Bluejays. The victory is Crofton's third district title in the last four seasons and returns the Bluejays to the state tournament after missing out in 2022.
For Tabor, Beau Rothschadl had three hits and Chris Sutera had two doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Chase Kortan and Hunter Hallock both had two-hit games, as well. Bryce Scieszinski started and was chased early, taking the loss after allowing four hits, three earned runs and striking out three in two innings. Rothschadl pitched seven innings in relief and allowed eight hits, four runs (one earned) and struck out four. Crofton outhit Tabor by a 12-9 margin, while the Bluebirds committed five errors.
Both teams will play in the Class B state tournament, which starts Aug. 2 in Mitchell.
FLANDREAU, S.D. — Dell Rapids PBR emerged to win the District 4B last-chance game against Cornbelt League rival Salem on Saturday by a 3-2 score.
PBR is the seventh and final team from the Cornbelt to qualify for the 32-team Class B state tournament, which begins Aug. 2 in Mitchell.
Dell Rapids' Brett Mogen pitched a 139-pitch complete game with five hits and two unearned runs allowed, striking out eight. Riley Calhoon had three hits for PBR, which outhit Salem 9-5.
Dell Rapids scored runs in the second, third and sixth innings, before Salem added two runs in the seventh inning but could not tie the game. Each run of the game was unearned and the contest had a combined eight errors, with Salem committing five.
Kyle Tuschen had two of the Cubs' five hits. Tyler Earls, who pitched a complete game for Salem and threw 150 pitches, allowed nine hits and struck out seven PBR batters. The season ends at 10-17 for Salem.
FLANDREAU, S.D. — The No. 1 seeded Dell Rapids Mudcats backed it up at the District 4B tournament, claiming the championship on Saturday night with a 9-3 win over second-seeded Canova.
The two teams split the season series leading into Saturday's championship game. No other information was reported.
Dell Rapids (21-4) and Canova (13-5) await the Class B state tournament next week in Mitchell.
