BRANDON — The Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks beat a familiar face to reach an unfamiliar place. 

The Gamecocks snapped a seven-game losing streak against Cornbelt League foe Dell Rapids Mudcats, 4-3, and advanced to the Class B state amateur baseball tournament semifinals on Friday at First National Bank Field. 

It was Hartford/Humboldt’s first victory over the Mudcats since June 7, 2022, a 5-2 Gamecock decision. The Gamecocks snapped the losing skid against the perennial power on the state’s biggest stage. 

“It’s very rewarding,” Hartford/Humboldt manager Chad Morrison said. “You know what type of team they are. They have the history. They expect to win every time they are out there. I have been managing for seven years, and this is the first time we’ve ever beat them in a postseason game.”

For the Gamecocks, they’ll now make a rare appearance in the Class B semifinals. Morrison wasn’t sure the last time Hartford/Humboldt made the final four, but noted how Humboldt finished second in 1960 and won the state championship in 1961. 

“It could literally be 60-plus years since we’ve been to the semifinals,” Morrison said. 

Friday’s quarterfinal matchup was the third meeting this season, with the Mudcats (10-2, 6-5) taking both contests in the regular season. 

The Cornbelt League rematch lived up to the billing, with the Gamecocks scoring an eighth-inning run to break a 3-3 tie. In the eighth inning, Jonah Rechtenbaugh hit a two-out fly ball to shallow right field that dropped between second baseman Ty Hoglund and right fielder Austin Henry. 

“That was huge and that is amateur baseball,” Morrison said. “You take advantage of the dark sky and the guy is hustling instead of standing on first base; Jonah is on third base. It’s put the ball in play and good things happen.”

In the next at-bat, Cam Quigley’s RBI single plated Rechtenbaugh for the go-ahead run. The one-run cushion gave Hartford/Humboldt starter Blake Svoboda some breathing room entering the top of the ninth. 

“I definitely felt a little bit of relief,” Svoboda said. “Obviously it’s nice to have a little bit of run support. Our goal right there that inning was to go get one.”

In the ninth, Grant Olson hit a two-out single to keep the Mudcats alive. But Hoglund grounded out to Svoboda for the third out, and the Gamecocks celebrated the victory.

“It was a close ballgame the whole way,” Svoboda said. “It just came down to who wanted it more. … All we needed there was one run, just to secure the win and we got it done.”

Svoboda fanned eight Mudcat batters, scattered seven hits, allowed three earned runs and walked two batters in the complete-game outing. He tossed 140 pitches, 86 for strikes.  

“He battled all the way to the end,” Morrison said. “Two outstanding defensive plays to finish that out. Unbelievable plays. He really gutted it out. I am proud of him.”

In the first inning, the Mudcats struck first when Jake Goble smacked a two-run homer over the 375-foot center field wall. The Gamecocks responded in the bottom of the first on a Devon Garry RBI sac fly, scoring Joe Hanisch from third base. 

Hartford/Humboldt took the lead, 3-2, in the fifth inning on a Noah Vettrus RBI single. Goble knotted the score at 3-3 on an RBI sac fly in the top of the sixth inning. 

Dell Rapids’ Reece Arbogast took the loss, throwing 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs, one walk and struck out 10 batters. 

Carter Gullickson and Grant Olson had two hits apiece. Goble drove in all three runs for the Mudcats. 

For the Gamecocks, Rechtenbaugh and Broc Haldeman had two hits apiece. 

Up next, Hartford/Humboldt will play the Castlewood Ravens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. 

“We are going to enjoy this tonight and I am going to put my thinking cap on for tomorrow,” Morrison said. “I have seen Castlewood play a few times. They’ve got a lot of good ballplayers, a lot of good sticks. They are competitive and they are expecting to win. It’s going to be another dogfight.”