By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

CORSICA — Two Sunshine League rivals battled into South Dakota’s darkness on Friday. 

Due to a pre-game light delay, the District 5B championship was delayed until 9:45 p.m. and didn’t finish until close to 12:15 a.m. Saturday morning. But in the end, it was a familiar setting as Alexandria captured another district championship against rival Winner/Colome, 4-1. 

“Whenever we play those guys it’s always going to be a good game and helluva fight,” said Alexandria left fielder/manager Peyton Smith, whose Angels have handed the Pheasants both their losses this season. 

The Angels rode the arm of Ethan Davis, who pitched a complete-game performance to hold off Winner/Colome’s potent offensive attack.

“District championship game always gets the adrenaline rushing and we’ve been playing really good baseball,” Davis said. “They are a good hitting team. So if I could hit strikes and let my defense work, I knew we had a good chance.”

Davis allowed six hits, one unearned run and struck out 12 batters on 134 pitches. 

“Ethan Davis threw a phenomenal game,” Smith said. “We know every single time he comes out he’s going to give his best for us and that was the best game he threw for us. It couldn't have come at a better time.”

Davis’ counterpart, Tarell Bauld, was about as sharp for the Pheasants. Bauld allowed 11 hits, three earned runs and struck out three batters.  

“We’ve seen him in the past and we’ve kind of struggled with him,” Smith said. “But I thought we put together some good at-bats and hit some balls, and in the end, we did a little bit more than them.” 

Alexandria’s Tyson Gau hammered a homer to center field in the first, while Jerrod Zens drove in Smith for a 2-0 lead in the second. The game remained scoreless until Winner/Colome made it 2-1 on an Oscar Pravecek RBI single, scoring Reed Harter in the sixth inning.  

Alexandria plated two insurance runs in the eighth inning. With two outs, Jordan Gau smoked a deep fly ball to left field and Michael Schoettmer was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat. Pierce Smith scored Gau and courtesy runner Jed Schmidt with a two-out double off the left field fence, giving Davis a three-run cushion. 

“Our dugout lit up right away when those hits came in and we scored those extra runs,” Davis said. “Insurance runs mean a lot in any level of baseball.”

The teams will now prepare for the Class B state amateur baseball tournament on Aug. 3-14 at Cadwell Park. For the Angels, it was their third district title in the past four years. 

“We are just happy to get this goal No. 1 accomplished and hopefully we can keep this train rolling,” Peyton Smith said. 

Platte Killer Tomatoes 9, Corsica/Stickney Horned Frogs 6

CORSICA — The Platte Killer Tomatoes scored three runs in the sixth inning to break a 6-6 tie and earn a trip to the Class B amateur baseball tournament with a win over the Corsica/Stickney Horned Frogs on Friday.

Richard Sternberg allowed three runs on two hits and recorded seven strikeouts in his three inning start. Kelby VanDerWerff started the game for Platte, giving up three runs on eight hits in five innings, while striking out one and walking one.

Grant Doom led Platte with three hits in four at bats, three RBI, and one home run in the third inning. Sternberg and Michael Buitenbos each added two hits. Hunter Hewitt also had three RBI and one home run. Derek Soukup added two RBI.

Blake Moke took the loss for Corsica/Stickney, allowing nine hits and seven runs in seven innings, while striking out five.

Nathan Blom, Kris Menning, and Kiefer Johnson led Corsica/Stickney with two hits apiece. Moke, Menning, Gavin Zomer, and Jordan Dierks each had one RBI.