STURGIS, S.D. — The Gillette Post 42 Roughrider legion baseball team traveled east to take on the Sturgis Scoopers in a doubleheader at Strong Field and left with two wins, 3-1 in game one and 7-3 in game two.
Game one shaped up early to be a pitcher’s duel, with Scooper lefthander David Anderson getting the start for Sturgis and righty Brody Richardson taking the bump for Gillette.
Anderson started strong, striking out Roughrider leadoff hitter Joey Sturtevant and cleanup hitter James Pelton to close out the first inning unscathed. Richardson did the same to the Scoopers, striking out RJ Andrzejewski and Ridge Inhofer to keep Sturgis scoreless.
Gillette scored first, plating a run in the top of the third inning after Sturtevant led off with a single, stole a base and scored. The Roughriders led 1-0 after three innings.
Gillette scored two more runs in the top of the fifth, with Zane Eliason and Jason Fink crossing the dish to extend the Roughrider lead to 3-0. The Scoopers held Gillette scoreless the rest of the game and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to make the game interesting, but the Roughrider defense held tough and Gillette downed Sturgis, 3-1.
Brody Richardson took the win for Gillette, going five innings, holding Sturgis hitless while striking out 12. Nathaniel Zimmerschied and Kaden Race came out of the bullpen to close out the game in relief.
Anderson took the loss for Sturgis. Anderson threw four innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out nine.
Owen Cass and Kelton Olson each collected one hit to lead Sturgis offensively.
Cory Schilling led Gillette with two hits in three at bats.
Game two was another excellent display of baseball as the Roughriders took the lead early on a single by leadoff hitter Kaden Race. Race stole second, then scored on a fielder’s choice to give Gillette a 1-0 lead after one inning.
The Scooper offense looked to get going earlier in game two and got on the board with a run by Owen Cass in the bottom of the second to knot the game up and one apiece. Ridge Inhofer scored again for Sturgis in the bottom of the fourth to give the Scoopers a 2-1 lead headed into the fifth inning.
Scooper pitcher Dustin Alan threw a gem for Sturgis, going six and a third innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out eight Roughriders. Connor Cruickshank came in for Alan in relief in the top of the seventh with one out.
The Gillette offense woke up and tied things up at two after Sturtevant singled off Cruickshank and Scooper head coach Dominic Bradford intentionally walked Matt Newlin and James Pelton to load the bases with one out. Cruickshank struck out the next batter, Kaden Race, but Colson Kluck drew a walk with two outs, scoring a run to tie the game at two, sending the game into extra innings when the Scoopers couldn’t score in the bottom half of the seventh.
The momentum shifted in extra innings as the Roughriders scored five runs in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 7-2. Andrzejewski scored for Sturgis in the bottom of the eighth to cut into the Roughrider lead, but closer Matt Newlin struck out three Scoopers in a row to close out the win for Gillette, 7-3.
“We played a really good Gillette team, and losses are always hard,” said Sturgis head coach Dominic Bradford. “We did see a lot of positive things in both games. Dustin (Alan) and David (Anderson) both pitched the best they have yet this season. The defense stayed locked in. As a team, those were the most complete games we’ve played this year.”
Newlin earned the win for Gillette, giving up one run on two hits over two innings, striking out six Scoopers. Leighton Holden threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen for Gillette.
Cruickshank took the loss for Sturgis. The righty lasted two-thirds of an inning, allowing three hits and five runs while striking out one and walking one.
Kain Peters, David Anderson, RJ Andrzejewski, Owen Cass, Ridge Inhofer, and Kelton Olson each collected one hit for Sturgis. Olson had two stolen bases for the Scoopers, who totaled seven stolen bases as a team in game two.
Gillette had eight hits, led by Cory Schilling with three hits, and Kaden Race who pounded a single and a double for the Roughriders. The Gillette defense was flawless and didn’t commit a single error. Gillette improves their record to 4-2 on the season.
The Scoopers (4-7) are in action again on Monday night at 6pm as they host Rapid City Central at Strong Field.
