STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis Scoopers knew that their doubleheader against the Rapid City Central Cobblers was important to their place in the Class A baseball standings, and the team came through with two big wins on Wednesday night at Strong Field.
The Scoopers held off Central 9-8 in game one and withstood several Cobbler rallies in game two, earning the 14-11 victory.
Sturgis scored four runs in the second inning and looked to be in control, but Central tacked on three runs of their own in the fourth to make it a ball game.
The game was tied at eight apiece in the bottom of the seventh when Beau Peters hit a sharp single to left centerfield, scoring Jeren Andrzejewski from third for the walk-off Scooper win, 9-8.
Dylan Christianson got the pitching victory for Sturgis, going 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two while giving up six hits on 94 pitches. Brand Matthews came in to close out the last Cobbler batter and earn the save. Sturgis had 11 hits and were led by Christianson and Bricon Herren with three hits apiece.
Brian Atkinson took the loss for Central. The Cobblers had six hits and left three on base. Carter Gregory collected two hits for Central.
Game two of the doubleheader was a back and forth affair, as both teams traded leads until Sturgis scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump out to a 14-6 lead.
The Cobblers kept battling and scored four more in the top of the seventh and had the bases loaded with two outs, with the winning run at the plate. Scooper coach Aris Rodriguez brought in Matthews again to replace Jake Peters on the mound and Matthews struck out lead off hitter Lakin Uttecht to get the save and the 14-11 win.
Aiden Wood got the pitching win for Sturgis (5-6), striking out two and walking three while giving up no hits and one run. The Scoopers had seven hits and left eight on base. Brody Royer and Beau Peters each had two hits for Sturgis.
Lakin Uttecht took the loss for Rapid City Central (5-9). The Cobblers had eight hits and left 14 on base. Eight Central players had one hit each.
Sturgis hosts the Douglas Patriots for a doubleheader on Friday with games at 5pm and 7pm.
