Staff Reports

BROOKINGS – The Brookings Cubs qualified for the Class A State Amateur Baseball Tournament in dominant fashion on Friday night as they swept a three-game series against the Baltic River Dawgs. 

Brookings won game one 10-0 in seven innings and then took game two 15-2 in eight innings. 

The first weekend of the State Tournament will be played in Aberdeen. The Cubs will take on Yankton in their first game of the tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Game One 

Brookings 10, Baltic 0 (7 inn.)

Arlen Peters put on a dominant performance on the mound in game one. He pitched all seven innings and gave up just one hit and had 18 strikeouts.

The Cubs broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the second inning. Myles Rees led off the inning and hit one down the left field line. It hit off the foul pole for a solo home run and put the Cubs up 1-0. Justin Cofell then hit a one-out double and advanced to third on a ground out from Noah Buss. He then scored on a Tucker Wookey single to push the lead to 2-0.

Brookings extended the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Lincoln Vasgaard hit a lead-off double and Cofell reached on a fielder’s choice to put two runners on with no outs. Vasgaard came home on a wild pitch and then Cofell scored on a sacrifice fly from Wookey to make it a four-run game.

The Cubs scored four more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Chase McDaniel hit a single to start the inning and then Peters was hit by a pitch and Rees walked to load the bases with no outs. McDaniel scored on a single from Vasgaard and Peters came home on a fielder’s choice from Cofell. Noah Buss then hit Cofell and Rees home with a single to make it 8-0 heading into the sixth.

Two runs in the seventh ended the game due to the 10-run rule. Cofell and Buss hit back-to-back singles with one out. Cofell then scored on a Wookey single and Logan Anderson, who was running for Buss, scored the game-winning run on a single from Jake Ammann.

The Cubs had 13 hits in game one. Wookey was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Buss was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Rees was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Vasgaard and Cofell were each 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ammann was 1-for-4 with an RBI and McDaniel was 1-for-4. 

Game Two

Brookings 15, Baltic 2

Brookings led 3-1 heading into the sixth inning and then scored 12 runs in the next three innings to win via the 10-run rule again.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Cofell hit a lead-off single and Wookey reached on an error to put runners on the corners with one out. Cofell scored on a single from Ammann and then Wookey scored on a sacrifice fly from Henry Hammrich to make it a two-run game.

Baltic scored its first run of the night in the bottom of the fourth. Tristan Fitzsimmons was hit by a pitch with one out and then scored on an error to make it 2-1.

Brookings doubled its lead in the top of the fifth. Rees hit a one-out single and Vasgaard followed with a walk. Rees then scored on a passed ball to make it 3-1 through five innings.

Wookey hit a lead-off single in the top of the sixth and then Hammrich singled and McDaniel walked to load the bases with one out. Peters and Rees then walked to score Wookey and Hammrich to make it 5-1. Cofell, Anderson and Wookey all walked as well with the bases loaded and that stretched the lead to 8-1. Ammann was up next and he hit Anderson and Cofell home with a single to make it 10-1.

Baltic got one run back in the bottom of the inning. Braxton Allen hit a lead-off single and then scored on a Kooper Perry single to make it 10-2.

The Cubs scored five more runs in the top of the eighth. Anderson hit a single to start the inning and Wookey was then hit by a pitch and Hammrich walked to load the bases with one out. Anderson scored on a McDaniel fielder’s choice and Wookey scored on an error to make it a 10-run game. McDaniel scored on a wild pitch and then Rees hit Peters home with a double to push the lead to 14-2. Rees scored on an error to make it 15-2 and that put pressure on the River Dawgs to score four or more runs in the bottom of the inning.

Baltic went down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning and all the outs were strikeouts and that ended the game.

The Cubs had 11 hits in the victory. Ammann was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and Rees was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. McDaniel was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Anderson and Wookey were each 1-for-2 with an RBI. Cofell was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Hammrich was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Peters was 1-for-5 with an RBI. 

Anderson started the game and pitched six innings. He gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk. Ammann pitched the final two innings and gave up no runs and two hits with five strikeouts and no walks.