MITCHELL — The Tabor Bluebirds spoiled the Dell Rapids Mudcats’ three-peat bid on Sunday night. 

Tabor outlasted Dell Rapids, 2-1, in a 10-inning thriller in the second round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament at Cadwell Park. 

Nolan Carda’s walk-off single in the 10th lifted Tabor past Dell Rapids and stopped the Mudcats’ bid for a Class B three-peat. 

“It felt great,” Carda said. “It felt so great to take down Dell Rapids like that. It was amazing.”

Carda was 0 of 4 entering the crucial at-bat and his line drive into right field scored Bryce Scieszinski, who led off the inning with a single. Tabor’s Riley Rothschadl moved Scieszinski over to second after a single into center field. 

Carda roped Kris Regas’ 0-1 pitch into right field, and when Scieszinski beat the throw at home plate, the Tabor celebration was on. 

“That was awesome,” Rothschadl said. “I knew Nolan was going to get a hit. He’s a great hitter. So he was due. It was awesome. The celebration was awesome. It’s like nothing I have ever been a part of.”

Rothschadl, a future Augustana University pitcher, was again lights out for the Bluebirds on the mound. The right-handed pitcher struck out 12 batters, scattered eight hits, walked one batter and allowed zero runs against the potent Mudcats.  

“That kid is special,” Carda said. “He is something special. It sucks that he could only pitch 105, but he is phenomenal.” 

With Tabor clinging to a 1-0 lead, Rothschadl reached the 105-pitch count rule for American Legion pitchers after the sixth inning. Rothschadl was in a similar situation in last season’s state tournament and exited due to the rule, which Canova took advantage of and rallied past Tabor in the first round. 

Rothschadl admitted it felt like deja vu all over again.  

“I was kind of having PTSD,” Rothschadl joked. “But it feels great. I love how the guys battled and it feels awesome.”

Dell Rapids’ Dalton Lehnen, who won the past two state tournament MVP awards, fanned 19 batters, allowed one earned run on three hits and walked three batters on 139 pitches through 8.1 innings.   

“It was a helluva game on both sides,” Carda said. “It was a really good pitching duel.”

In the third inning, Carda scored the game’s first run on an RBI groundout, scoring Jalen Wiesler from third base. Rothschadl and Lehnen continued to put up zeros, but Kris Regas’ RBI double in the eighth inning evened the score at 1-1. 

Regas came on relief for Lehnen in the ninth inning, and retired the next two batters. In the 10th inning, Dell Rapids went down in order and it set the stage for Carda’s game-winning hit.

“We knew we had a chance going in,” Rothschadl said. “We know we have a really good team. We have been playing good baseball all year. For it to actually happen, and for it to actually go through, is a great feeling.”

Dell Rapids’ Trevor Freudenthal and Chad Hunt had three hits apiece. 

Rothschadl had two hits and Carda drove in two runs for Tabor, which plays Lake Norden at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals.