STURGIS, SD – The Dell Rapids Quarrier baseball team made the nearly 400-mile road trip to Sturgis and had no trouble defeating the Scoopers, 17-2 in six innings on Wednesday night at Strong Field.
Dell Rapids scored in every inning, and led 11-0 after five and a half innings. The Quarriers looked like they would win by the 10 run mercy rule, but Dayln Dschaak blasted an RBI triple to right center in the bottom of the fifth, scoring George Hamer to get the Scoopers on the board. The next batter, Elijah Stroud, poked a single to left field, scoring Dschaak to force the game into the sixth inning. Dell Rapids led 11-2 after five innings.
The Quarriers poured it on in the top of the sixth, plating six runs on just one hit, taking advantage of mistakes by the Scoopers. Relief pitcher Cole Ruesink shut down Sturgis in the bottom half of the sixth to secure the win.
Dell Rapids (1-0) was led by Ruesink at the plate, where he went 1-for-3, scoring two runs and adding two RBIs. The Quarriers had 11 hits and left nine on base. Ruesink also got the pitching win for Dell Rapids.
Sturgis (0-2) had three hits, committed three errors and left four on base. Dschaak, Stroud and Carson Williams each had a hit for the Scoopers. Eighth grader Tate Johnson took the pitching loss for Sturgis.
Sturgis hosts Dell Rapids again on Thursday night at Strong Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 5pm.
