MITCHELL — Dimock-Emery took down its second Cornbelt League team in a row on Tuesday.

The Raptors edged Salem, 8-6, in the second round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament at Cadwell Park. After Dimock-Emery erupted for a 13-0 win over Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks in the opener, it eliminated the Cubs from the 32-tournament. 

The Raptors and Cubs played earlier this season, with Salem pulling out a 3-2 win on May 11 in Emery. So Tuesday’s two-run outcome was no surprise. 

“I’ve watched this group of Salem guys for a number of years,” Dimock-Emery manager Brad Bartscher said. “I told my guys before the game and all week long leading up to this they will play hard, they will play harder than anybody, they will make you compete and they never give up. They made us fight and battle for everything we got and they never gave up.” 

Dimock-Emery starter Phil Johnson lasted seven innings, striking out six batters, allowing three earned runs and eight hits on 91 pitches. 

“Phil is a grinder,” Bartscher said. “He gave us everything he had and he gave us a chance to win the game when we needed to most.”

Salem starter Tyler Earls lasted five innings. He gave up four hits, three earned runs, walked five and struck out five batters on 104 pitches. 

“Earls had us baffled,” said Johnson, who had three hits and three RBI. “That’s what Earls does. He’s my college teammate. I’ve seen him do it for years. I’ve seen him do it to numerous great teams.”

Salem’s Cole Cheeseman steals second ahead of the tag by Dimock/Emery pick up player Caleb Crist on Tuesday at the South Dakota State Amateur Baseball Tournament at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

The game was knotted up 2-2 after five innings, but Dimock-Emery piled up five runs after a pitching change. Sam Pischke (HBP) and Chase Arend (single) led off the inning, chasing Earls and bringing in reliever Logan Larsen. 

“When that pitching change happened, and we got a couple guys on, we forced them to make plays and some good things happened,” Johnson said.  

Sam Michels and Sam Arend struck out in the next two at-bats, but Caleb Crist ripped a two-run double for a 4-2 lead. Johnson tacked on two more runs on a two-run single and Jason Schmidt’s RBI single pushed it to 7-2. 

“We got a little rhythm going at the plate,” Bartscher said. “One hitter led to another and we put some good at-bats together, grinded it out and I still knew it wasn’t safe. They play so hard that they are never out of anything.”

Salem scored four runs in the seventh, highlighted by a Kyle Tuschen bases-clearing double, cutting the deficit to 7-6. 

Jason Schmidt’s eighth inning sacrifice fly gave Dimock-Emery an 8-6 advantage. Schmidt, who relieved Johnson in the eighth, earned the save with two scoreless innings to preserve the win. 

Dimock-Emery’s Peyton Nash added two hits, while Gene Kitchens and Chase Arend added hits. 

Salem’s Cole Cheeseman and Bobby Koepsell recorded two hits apiece. Tyler Cleveland and Isaac Anderson added hits. 

The Raptors will play Dell Rapids Mudcats or Larchwood on Friday in the quarterfinals.