Tea Steam battles through State Tournament, earns win over Yankton Lakers

The Tea Steam saw its run in the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association State Tournament come to an end, but not before the team battled through a pair of games in Yankton and picked up a tournament victory.

Tea opened the state tournament Friday, Aug. 7, against the Brookings Cubs, falling 9-6 in a back-and-forth contest.

The Steam struggled to generate offense early, while Brookings took a 2-0 lead after the first inning and extended the advantage to 4-0 in the third.

Tea got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Dawson Portner drew a walk and eventually scored when Matthew Hanson delivered a single to center field. Brookings answered with another run in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-1 lead.

The Steam began to chip away in the sixth.

Cameron Jensen opened the inning with a single before Ben Loos launched a two-run home run to left field, cutting the Brookings advantage to 5-3. Tea was unable to score again in the inning, but the momentum continued to build.

Tea completed the comeback in the seventh.

Troy Ljunggren led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. Portner followed with a single, putting runners at the corners. Jensen then reached on an error, allowing Ljunggren to score and cutting the deficit to one.

After Loos was intentionally walked, Hanson came through with a double to center field that scored Jensen and tied the game at 5-5.

The Cubs regained control in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs to take a 9-5 lead.

Tea mounted one final rally in the ninth. Buchmann singled and Jensen followed with another single, putting runners at first and third. Loos then reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing Buchmann to score and bringing the Steam within three.

However, Hanson flew out to end the game, sending Brookings on with a 9-6 victory.

Despite the loss, Tea had several offensive contributors. Jensen collected multiple hits, while Hanson delivered several key hits, including the game-tying double in the seventh. Loos’ two-run homer provided another important moment in the Steam’s comeback attempt.

Tea returned to action Saturday, Aug. 8, against the Yankton Lakers and responded with a strong 6-2 victory to continue its tournament run.

The Steam got on the scoreboard first in the second inning.

Andy Moen singled, and after a Yankton error put runners in scoring position, Michael Buchmann singled to move the runners. Portner followed with a ground-ball single that brought Moen home, giving Tea a 1-0 lead.

Tea added two more runs in the fourth.

Moen drew a walk, and after Buchmann was hit by a pitch and Portner singled, Jensen delivered a hard ground-ball single to left field. The hit scored both Moen and Buchmann, pushing the Steam’s advantage to 3-0.

The Steam broke the game open in the fifth.

Hanson singled to start the inning, followed by hits from Moen and Henry Hammrich. Buchmann then drew a bases-loaded walk, bringing home Mote and extending Tea’s lead to 4-0.

Portner followed with a line-drive single to left field, scoring both Hammrich and Moen and giving the Steam a 6-0 advantage.

That was more than enough for the Tea pitching and defense.

Tea held Yankton scoreless through the first eight innings before the Lakers mounted a late rally in the ninth. Yankton scored twice in the inning, but the Steam shut down the comeback attempt to secure the 6-2 victory.

The win featured a strong all-around performance from Tea, with the Steam collecting timely hits and taking advantage of Yankton mistakes while keeping the Lakers’ offense in check for most of the game.

Cameron Jensen also provided a strong performance on the mound, recording multiple strikeouts and working out of several Yankton scoring opportunities.

With the victory, Tea advanced in the state tournament and continued its postseason run. The Steam will return to action Friday, Aug. 14, against Aberdeen in Mitchell.