SPEARFISH, SD — In the regular season finales for both squads with postseason implications, Spearfish Post 164 hosted Sturgis Post 33 at Black Hills Energy Stadium in a doubleheader on Monday night. Spearfish Post 164 jumped out to an early lead and beat the Sturgis Titans 8-6 in game one, but Post 33 came to life in the second matchup, pounding out 19 hits to take game two 12-5.
Spearfish had to win both games to make the postseason American Legion tournament but are now on the outside looking in, finishing the season as the #17 seed. With the win in game two, Sturgis maintained their position as the #14 seed and will play at Sioux Falls West this weekend.
Titan’s lefthander David Anderson started on the mound for Post 33 in game one, facing Post 164’s Alec Sundsted. Sundsted walked three in the top of the first but the Titans couldn’t get anyone across the dish and left the inning scoreless. Anderson walked two in the bottom half of the inning and Spartan shortstop Aiden Haught brought home leadoff hitter Brady Hartwig to give Spearfish a 1-0 lead.
Sturgis matched that run in the top of second as R.J. Andrzejewski cracked a single, then was brought home by Hunter Janzen on a fielder’s choice double play to tie up the contest at one apiece. Post 164 plated two more runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead again, 3-1.
The game went back and forth as Post 33 scored three in the third to take a 4-3 lead and held that advantage until the bottom of the fourth, when Spearfish scored five runs on six hits and led 8-4. Sundsted’s pitches were on point late in the game, holding the Titans scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. Sturgis put up two runs late in the bottom of the seventh but it wasn’t enough as Spearfish held on to an 8-6 win in game one.
Sundsted secured the win for Spearfish and relief pitcher Conner Cruickshank took the loss for the Titans. Sturgis had eight hits and was led by Ridge Inhofer, who had a single, double and scored two runs. Spearfish had nine hits in game one and was led by Hartwig, who went 2-for-2 and scored two runs. Post 33 head coach Dominic Bradford had words of encouragement for his squad following the loss.
“The boys were all pretty disappointed in their performance so I talked about having better approaches at the plate and not letting mistakes spiral out of control,” Bradford said.
The pep talk paid big dividends in game two, as Gage Murphey got the start for the Titans and tossed a gem for Post 33. Murphey kept Post 164 off balance with a mix of speed and movement, giving up only one hit in the first and one in the second, holding Spearfish to just two hits through five innings.
“Gage did a great job in the second game,” Bradford said. “He took control early and he had everything working for him.”
The Sturgis Post 33 bats came alive in game two. The Titans jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, plating two runs in the second, one in the third, five runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth to lead 12-0. Spearfish had to score three runs to avoid the mercy rule and the Spartans did just that in the bottom of the sixth. Post 164 scored three runs on two hits to extend the game into the seventh inning. Titan closing pitcher Beau Peters walked two in the bottom of the seventh but held Spearfish to just two runs to earn the save, giving Sturgis the win, 12-5.
Murphey secured the win for Sturgis, striking out eight over five innings and giving up just two hits. Sturgis pounded out 19 hits and were led by David Anderson, who went 4-for-5, scoring two runs with two RBIs. Hartwig took the loss on the mound for Spearfish. Post 164 managed only five hits. Sundsted had a double and a single for Spearfish.
Post 33 finishes the regular season with 11 wins and 22 losses. Spearfish Post 164 closes their summer campaign with 25 wins and 31 losses. Bradford said having some time off before facing the #3 seeded Sioux Falls West ballclub will help the Titans.
“The rest of this week we are going to go pretty light and try to nurse some injuries that we’ve suffered in the last couple of games,” he said. “We played West earlier this season and they got the better of us twice. In both games we didn’t have good approaches at the plate and made several mistakes in the field. We’ll need to play solid defense and pitch well to be in position to pull off the upset.”
