HURON — The Huron Tigers baseball team closed out the regular season with a Friday doubleheader against Sioux Falls Jefferson on Friday and a triangular Saturday against Rapid City Stevens and Sioux Falls Washington at Klock Field.
The Jefferson Cavaliers came away with the doubleheader sweep Friday over the Tigers, 6-0 and 6-2.
In the opener, Jefferson got a pair of runs in the first inning to jump out to an early lead and continued to add on a run at a time the rest of the way to take away a 6-0 victory.
Jefferson starter Braylon Bear took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Tigers before Jack Pederson laced a double to break up the no-no. Bear would end the game with seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out 12 Huron hitters.
Senior Layne Wenzel got the start on Senior Night, going four innings, and allowing four runs on six hits and a walk, striking out seven. Peyton Bischoff closed out the game, allowing two runs over three innings on four hits and a walk, striking out two.
Pederson’s double was the lone extra-base hit for the Tigers.
In the nightcap, Jefferson got on the scoreboard first with three runs in the top of the second. The Tigers would answer with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but that was all the scoring Huron would do in a 6-2 loss.
Carsen Evans took the mound to open for Huron, allowing four runs over four innings on six hits and four walks, striking out four. Logan Leyendecker came on in relief for 1 1/3 innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits. Pederson closed out the game with 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out three.
The Tigers had a better game at the plate in the second game, getting 10 baserunners, with six hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen. However, outside of the second inning, they could not string together hits for a run.
Kolton Ogle had a pair of singles and drove in both Huron runs. Trace Wenz and Bubba Peterson each had a single and a hit-by-pitch. Evans had a single and a walk.
The Tigers walked off with a victory in the first game of Saturday’s triangular with Stevens. Huron opened the game with five scoreless frames while the Raiders were able to push across two in the third on Huron starter Tommie Martin.
Martin would go the distance for Huron, tossing seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out four.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Wenzel led off with a single, but he was picked off of first base. Leyendecker laced a single to center field and then stole second base.
Evans was then hit by a pitch and Pederson hit a grounder to second base that was mishandled, allowing Leyendecker to score and Evans to move up to first, making the score 2-2.
After Brady Feenstra struck out, on the first pitch of Peyton Bischoff’s at bat, Evans scored on a wild pitch to give the Tigers the walk-off 3-2 victory.
The Tigers would have just six baserunners in the game, and no one reached base twice, but Pederson, Leyendecker, and Bischoff each stole a base.
In the second game of the day for the Tigers, the Washington Warriors were able to score a run in the top of the first, but the Tigers rallied for four in the bottom of the inning and never looked back in a victory.
Peterson got the start and went the distance for Huron, allowing six runs over seven innings on 12 hits and a pair of walks, striking out six.
The Tigers’ offense benefitted from poor control and rough defense on the part of the Washington squad, drawing nine walks, two wild pitches, having one batter hit by pitch, and watching the Warriors make five errors defensively.
Wenzel had a double, single, and a walk, scoring three runs. Gabe Waldner laced a double and a single and stole a pair of bases.
Martin drew three walks and Jackson Mattke had a single and two walks.
Peterson stole two bases for Huron while Martin and Trace Wenz each added a stolen base.
The Tigers finish the regular season 4-12 and await their playoff matchup beginning Friday.
