By Jon Akre

605 Sports

Not only was it a rematch of last year’s semifinals, but it was also the rubber match for the 2024 season, with PBR taking game one, 8-7, and Canova responding with a win in round two, 4-3.

“They looked at the next pitch which is so important in baseball, you have to have amnesia,” said Solberg.

The rubber match started with each team trading runs, Canova put up a run on a Jason Miller RBI-single in the first and again in the third on a Garret Gassman RBI-sac fly, while PBR scored a run in both the second and third innings on Brayden Pankonen singles.

“I told these guys before the game that we have to win this defensively and at the plate, and we grinded out some very timely hits all game long which ended up being absolutely massive for us,” said Dell Rapids PBR pitcher Drew Sweeter.

PBR struck for 14 hits in the ballgame against Canova’s Kendall Gassman, which was supplemented with seven errors by the Gang.

Sweeter played a huge role in the PBR win, tallying 8.2 innings on the mound, allowing just three runs on 12 hits and two walks, while adding two hits at the plate.

“Just tried to keep them off balanced,” said Sweeter on his outing. “That’s a really good offensive team and I tried doing what I did last time by keeping them off balanced, while trying to use my fastball with a little life, so luckily I was able to command it for the most part.”

The other part of the battery, Madison Broncos pick-up player Heith Williams, also played a big part in the win, driving in two runs on a sixth-inning double and another run on a single in the eighth from the leadoff spot in PBR’s lineup.

“Getting good pitches to drive, just having confidence up there, and the guys in front of me getting on base and giving me those opportunities,” said Williams of his state tournament success.

Canova scored another run in the sixth on a passed ball, but the four-run lead was too much for the defending state champions to comeback from, with Pankonen stepping in for Sweeter to record the final out.

“You got to pull him off the mound, that’s the sign of a good pitcher,” said Solberg of Sweeter. “He didn’t want to come out, nobody wants to come out in that situation. We just thought with the three left-handers coming up and that darn last out is so tough, we just thought that going lefty on lefty was the right move. Drew was getting tired, but he threw a heck of a game.”

Despite not being part of last season's state semifinal run, Sweeter says it still felt good to help get redemption for his teammates and his connections within the team.

“My brother’s on this team. My best friend is on this team. That’s the reason why I came up here and played with these guys,” said Sweeter. “This is a great group of guys, a great group of ballplayers, and getting to the semifinals in back-to-back years is not easy to do, so to be able to do that is absolutely amazing.”

Offensively, Williams drove in three runs on two hits, including a double, Pankonen had three hits and an RBI, Connor Spindler drove in a run on two hits, Zach Puetz hit a solo homer, while Sweeter and Weston Hansen each tallied two hits in the win.

For Canova, Kendall Gassman allowed seven runs on 14 hits in nine innings, striking out four.

Garrett Gassman and Jason Miller each tallied two hits and an RBI, Derek Miller tallied three hits, while Riley Genzlinger, Jared Miller, Justin Miller, Kalub Carmichel, and Tim Gassman each tallied hits in the loss.

Dell Rapids PBR advances to Saturday’s state semifinals for the second year in a row, and awaits the Winner/Colome vs. Dell Rapids winner at 7:30 p.m.