STURGIS, SD – The Spearfish Spartans baseball team had outstanding games from Owen Bruner and Tucker Olson and used their offensive prowess to beat the Sturgis Scoopers 17-5 on Tuesday night at Strong Field.
The game was delayed by about 30 minutes due to lightning and rain. The field conditions were playable but a light rain continued through most of the game, making the pitchers mound a sticky mess.
Scooper starting pitcher Brand Matthews walked Brock Lewis in the top of the first inning then Sean Sewell singled to put two Spartans on base. Bruner then crushed a long fly ball over the head of left fielder Carson Williams, scoring Lewis and Sewell, giving Spearfish a quick 2-0 lead.
Sturgis started off the bottom half of the first inning with two singles by Jace Thurman and Elijah Stroud, putting two on base. Thurman stole third and Stroud took second on a wild pitch by Spartan right hander Zach Wilson. Thurman scored on a grounder by Dayln Dschaak to cut the Spartan lead in half. Spearfish led 2-1 headed into the second inning.
Spearfish plated seven runs on two hits in the top of the second inning to extend their lead to 9-1. Bridge Battin led off the bottom of the third inning with a single, then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Dschaak. George Hamer was hit by a pitch to get on base, then Walker Viessman replaced Wilson on the mound for Spearfish. Viessman gave up singles to Carter Williams and Brody Royer, scoring Hamer. Royer was on first Viessman attempted a pickoff, and Royer was caught in a pickle. Spearfish couldn’t catch up with Royer, attempting to tag him out, but Royer got back to first safely. Williams scored during the attempt to tag out Royer and the Spartans took a 9-4 lead into the fourth.
Spearfish added three runs in the top of the fourth, one in the top of the fifth and four more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. The Scoopers scored one in the bottom of the sixth and had one on with no outs, but Spearfish turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat, ending the game in six innings on the 10-run mercy rule, winning 17-5.
Wilson got the pitching win for Spearfish (3-0), giving up three runs, three hits, walking one and striking out two on 38 pitches. The Spartans collected 12 hits and were led by Bruner, who went 3-for-3, scoring three runs with two doubles and a single. Olson was 3-for-4 at the plate and scored two runs. Spearfish left 11 on base and committed two errors.
Sturgis (1-6) had six hits, left nine on base and had three errors. Bridge Battin was 2-for-3 at the dish, scoring two runs. Thurman, Stroud, Carter Williams and Royer each had a hit for Sturgis. Tate Johnson took the pitching loss for the Scoopers.
Sturgis is in action next on Friday night as they host the Douglas Patriots at Strong Field. First pitch is slated for 7pm.
