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Big Sticks sweep Sodbusters with 9-6 Sunday win

gaylon wm. parker, the dickinson press, n.d.
·5 min read

Jul. 24—DICKINSON — A late-innings, 9-6, win over the Hastings (Neb.) Sodbusters at Dakota Community Bank and Trust Ballpark offered some light at the end of the tunnel for the Badlands Big Sticks, and with only six games remaining on the 2023 regular-season schedule, the Astoria Field favorites now head out on the road to face the Sodbusters in a rematch of the weekend, home-series finale.

The Big Sticks will be at Hastings from Tuesday, July 25 through the 27th, before finishing off the regular season on the road at the Oahe (SD) Zap from Friday, July 28 through the 30th. The three-game home sweep also came at just the right time, as the Big Sticks currently stand in third-place in the Independence League, a half-game behind their arch-rivals, the Casper (Wyo.) Spuds, who also managed to sweep the Zap in Casper over three weekend games to keep pace with the 'Sticks.

On Sunday, the Big Sticks went behind by an early run in the top of the second, but responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Centerfielder Matthew Lewis ripped a leadoff single and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches before designated hitter Keenan Proctor brought him home with a double and then Proctor came home on a single from left-fielder Joe Osborn.

The next two innings were uneventful for both teams, but the Big Sticks (30-19) broke loose with a 4-run sixth inning while batting-around and bringing the Astoria Field crowd to its feet. The 'Sticks loaded the bases twice in the inning, which was highlighted by Dickinson native and hometown favorite Tyler Berg's 2-run double, which scored shortstop Marques Abulhosn and Cam Credeur, who loaded the bases on a walk and a bunt-single, respectively. Before those fireworks, fellow Dickinsonian Kobe Krenz plated Osborn on a sacrifice fly to right and Marques Abulhosn singled in Isaac Huettl — who had walked.

Berg went 1-for-3 with the 2 RBI and a run, to go along with a stolen base and a pair of walks, while Osborn and Huettl each contributed 2 RBI and Proctor scored twice on 2-for-3 hitting with an RBI to pace the Big Sticks' bats.

For the most part, the five-pitcher battery for the 'Sticks held up well, with starter Garret Lundmark throwing six innings of 5-hit ball while striking out 4 and giving up only 1 earned run. But things went pear-shaped in the seventh and eighth innings, as Hastings busted loose for 5 runs to knot the game at 6-6, with 4 runs coming in the top of the eighth after two walks and an error again loaded the bases for the Sodbusters (13-34).

But the Big Sticks' heroics weren't over, as Berg benefited from a leadoff walk and he was followed by walks to Proctor and Danny Rogers, which loaded the bases. Osborn was hit by a pitch that plated Berg, then Huettl singled to centerfield and drove in Proctor and Rogers, and those 3 insurance runs were all the Big Sticks would need to close out the game, with Braxton Greenburg putting out the fire with a 3-up-3-down top of the ninth, striking out 1 in the process en route to the relief-win.

On Saturday evening, the Big Sticks raced out to a 6-5 lead by the end of the fifth inning and never looked back, scoring 2 in the second on an RBI-groundout from DSU shortstop Balas Buckmaster and a solo-homer from Carson Carey, with 4 more coming in the bottom of the fifth. To take the lead, Proctor singled home Harrison Waxley and then Huettl walked-home Credeur, while Rogers scored Abulhosn on a sac-fly before Proctor scored on a wild-pitch to take the lead for good at 6-5.

The game was locked-down from there, with Thomas King having taken over for starter Eli Nissen on the mound and earning the win. The Big Sticks pitching battery of Nissen, King, Krenz and Berg — who earned the save — came in with 8 total strikeouts while giving up 3 earned runs and 11 hits.

Yuran ended up going 2-for-3 during the game, with four different Big Sticks driving in runs to contribute to the win, and 6 different batters crossing the plate in a total-team-effort at the plate.

In fact, the Sodbusters outhit the Big Sticks, 11-6 on the evening, but good-eyes on the ball led to 6 walks for the Astoria Field home-team, and timely hitting took over from there.

For more information about the Badlands Big Sticks, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit

https://www.badlandsbigsticks.com/

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Box Scores

SUNDAY

SODS 010 000 140 — 6 8 0

STIX 002 004 03x — 9 12 1

Batting

2B — Berg, Proctor, Osborn, Credeur. TB — Proctor 3, Osborn 3, Credeur 3, Berg 2, Krenz 2, Lewis 1, Huettl 1, Abulhosn 1. HBP — Osborn, Krenz. SF — Krenz. SB — Osborn, Abulhosn.

Pitching

Lundmark — 6IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K

Dokes — 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 1K

Watkins — .2IP, 1H, 4R, 0ER, 2BB, 0K

Sheldon — .1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K

Greenburg (W) — 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K

SATURDAY

SODS 110 210 000 — 5 11 1

STIX 020 040 00x — 6 6 1

Batting

HR — Carey. TB — Carey 4, Yuran 2, Credeur 1, Rogers 1, Proctor 1. HBP — Abulhosn. SF — Rogers.

Pitching

Nissen — 3.1IP, 6H, 4R, 2ER, 4BB, 3K

King (W) — 2.2IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K

Krenz — 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K

Berg (S) — 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K