Tea Steam walks off Brookings to close regular season with win

The Tea Steam closed out the regular season in thrilling fashion Thursday, July 23, rallying for a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Brookings Cubs at home.

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Logan Boom led off with a double to center field before advancing to third on a groundout by Dawson Portner. Cameron Jensen then put the ball in play, reaching on a fielder’s choice that allowed Boom to race home with the game-winning run.

Tea struck first in the second inning. Courtesy runner Cole McKinney, running for Ben Loos after a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring when Henry Hammrich reached on an error by the Brookings third baseman, giving the Steam a 1-0 lead.

Brookings evened the score in the fourth on a solo home run by Isaac Bonner, but Tea answered in the bottom half of the inning. Hammrich drew a walk and later scored on an RBI single by Matthew Hanson to put the Steam back in front, 2-1.

The Cubs tied the game again in the sixth after capitalizing on a Tea error, then took their first lead of the night in the seventh when Bonner drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-2.

Tea refused to go away. In the bottom of the eighth, Michael Buchmann was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored when Hanson lined an RBI double to left field, knotting the game at 3-3 and setting the stage for the ninth-inning heroics.

Hanson led the Steam offense with two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. Jensen collected a hit, an RBI and the game-winning fielder’s choice, while Boom doubled and scored the winning run. Buchmann also reached base twice and scored the tying run.

On the mound, Billy Mote struck out five over the first three innings while allowing one run. Braxton Mulder came in for two innings of relief with three strikeouts before Cole McKinney earned the win, striking out five over the final two innings to preserve the victory. Wilson Munzke also saw action, striking out one batter. 

The win gives the Steam momentum heading into postseason play. Tea will open the District Tournament on Friday, July 31, when it hosts the Renner Monarchs.