Kimball/White Lake's knocks off Castlewood in opening round of the 2022 state amateur baseball tournament
Aug. 8—MITCHELL — The Kimball/White Lake Nationals set the tone early with a 3-run first inning that helped propel them to a 7-2 win over Castlewood, Sunday afternoon at Cadwell Park during the 2022 Class B state amateur baseball tournament.
Despite being out-hit 13-12, Kimball/White Lake was able to hold on to its early lead with the help of Zak Wallner at the mound and four Castlewood errors.
After surviving the top of the first inning with bases loaded and not giving up a single run, the Nationals put the pressure on Castlewood early at the bottom of the first. After Trent Wookey was walked at the plate, Castlewood committed an infield error that allowed Wookey to advance to second. Dylanger Pierson would soon hit a double to left field, bringing Wookey home and keeping Kimball/White Lake in scoring position with just one out. Later that inning, Kelly O'Bryan hit a single that brought two batters and gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead after one.
In the second inning, Wookey recorded his second hit of the game, followed by Pierson's second hit as well that helped Kimball/White Lake take a 4-0 lead after two. After three scoreless innings, the Nationals would find its rhythm at the plate again as Wookey, Eathen Gaulke and Caden Lenz had base hits, only to tack on one more run. Castlewood managed to score one run in the seventh and ninth inning, but Kimball/White Lake scored two additional runs in the eighth to help earn the 5-run victory.
Wookey went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored, while Pierson and Gaulke had two hits each. Kelly O'Bryan from Colome had two hits and a game-high three RBIs while Pierson added two. Wallner pitched all nine innings for the Nationals and despite giving up 13 hits, he only allowed two earned runs while striking out 11 batters.
"Putting up three runs in the first inning gave us a much better chance to win the game, especially with a pitcher like Wallner working with the lead," Kimball/White Lake coach Wes Kroupa said. "We played an all-around solid game and we've been here six of the last eight years so we know what to expect and we're excited for the next battle."
As for Castlewood, Josh Cleveland pitched eight innings, struck out and surrendered five earned runs on 12 hits. Jacob Tvedt went 3-for-5 to lead the Monarchs at the plate, while Cleveland, Lucas Ching, Parker Schmidt and Rhett Florey from Clark Traders recorded two hits apiece.
Kimball/White Lake will advance to the round of 16 to face Flandreau, on Wednesday, August 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Cadwell Park.
