RAPID CITY, S.D. — Soaking rains kept the Scoopers from hosting the Cobblers at Strong Field, but the change in venue didn’t hurt Sturgis as they rolled over Rapid City Central 9-3 on Monday night at McKeague Field.
Scooper players worked hard on the infield of Strong Field to prep the field after rains drenched the diamond, but a last-minute decision was made to move the contest to Rapid City.
“After getting pounded with rain in Sturgis, I talked with the Central coaches and one of them was still in Rapid,” said Scooper head coach Dominic Bradford. “They went and checked their field and it was in much better shape than ours, so at about 6pm we made the official decision to go to Rapid.”
Both teams were scoreless after one inning of play. Scooper starting pitcher Ridge Inhofer gave up two runs in the top of the second, but the Sturgis offense came alive in the bottom half of the inning and put up four runs to take a 4-2 lead.
The Scoopers scored two in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-2 as the game headed into the fifth. The Cobblers put up one run in the top of the fifth inning but couldn’t close the gap, as the game was called in the bottom of the sixth due to lightning and rain in the Rapid City area.
Ridge Inhofer got the win on the mound for Sturgis. Inhofer allowed two hits and three runs over four and two-thirds innings, striking out 12. Kain Peters came in to relieve Inhofer and threw one-third of an inning out of the bullpen.
“Ridge played extremely well for us and Kain got to get in a little work as well,” Bradford said. “Evan Stroud had to be thrown in as catcher and he did a really nice job of blocking the ball and working hard when they had runners on.”
Inhofer led Sturgis on the mound and at the plate, going two for three. The Scoopers finished the game with seven hits. Sturgis (5-7) stole nine bases during the game with David Anderson leading the way with five base thefts. Kyle Schlueter took the loss for Rapid City Central. The hurler allowed four hits and four runs over two innings, striking out one and walking zero.
“We saw the ball really well while at the plate and knew we had a chance to run the bases once we got on,” said Bradford.
The Scoopers are at home on Thursday, April 29 for Senior Night. First pitch is scheduled for 6pm.
