Titans defeat O’Gorman, SF Washington; fall to Dell Rapids

Above: Sam Werdel gets a hit for the Titans.

On Monday, Apr. 22 the Tea Area High School baseball team hosted Sioux Falls O’Gorman and earned the 8-2 victory. 

The Titans led 3-1 after the first inning with Ethan Vis’ single, scoring two runs. Clayton Schwebach grounded out, scoring another run for Tea Area. 

In the bottom of the third, Vis walked and Schwebach grounded out, each scoring one more run for the Titans. Tea Area scored twice more in the bottom of the fourth and one more in the fifth to earn the win. Schwebach earned the win for Tea Area on the mound, giving up three hits and two runs over seven innings. He struck out seven batters and walked three. 

Mason Schramm had two hits in the game to lead the offense. Vis, Tim Halbur, and Boston Willemssen also had a hit in the game. 

Prior to their win over Sioux Falls O’Gorman, the Titans hosted Dell Rapids in double header action on Sunday, Apr. 21. The Titans lost both match-ups, falling 5-1 in the first game and 8-1 in the second. 

In the opening game, Dells built a 5-0 lead after three innings of play and it wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh that the Titans were able to get on the board with one run. 

Handling pitching duties for the Titans was Cole McKinney. He allowed five hits and five runs over three innings, striking out two and walking none. Nate Christensen pitched just over two innings, allowing one hit and striking out three and Jake Lindgren pitched one inning, allowing one hit and recording one strike-out. 

Sam Werdel and Schramm each collected one hit to lead the Titans at bat. 

Despite Tea Area outhitting the Quarriers, 5-2 in the second match-up, the Titans still suffered the 8-1 loss. Dells once again got out to an early lead and put up four runs in the top of the sixth to secure the win. 

Leading the bats for the Titans were Carter Turek, Halbur, Werdel, Teagan Dedula, and Lindgren who all collected hits. 

On the mound, Schramm pitched three innings in relief, allowing one hit and two runs while striking out two and walking four. Ben Vasecka led things off on the mound, surrendering zero hits and three runs over two innings. He walked four. Dedula and Lindgren also each pitched an inning. Dedula recorded one strike out and Lindgren two. 

On Tuesday, Apr. 23 the Titans took on Sioux Falls Washington in double header action. Tea Area grabbed both wins against the Warriors, defeating them in the first game 12-0 and 7-4 in the second.

The Titans got on the board in the bottom of the second inning after Turek doubled, Gavin Johnson walked, Schramm singled, Vis hit a sacrifice fly and Schwebach singled, each scoring one run. A ground out by Schramm extended the Titans lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the third.

Tea Area scored six runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Werdel grounded out, scoring one run; Turek singled, scoring one run; Johnson singled, scoring two runs; a wild pitched scored another run and Schwebach drew a walk to bring another runner across home plate. 

On the mound for the Titans was Boston Willemssen. He allowed two hits and zero runs over five innings, striking out one and walking one. 

In the second game, the Titans trailed early but managed to tie things up 4-4 after three innings of play. In the fourth, Tea Area scored two runs and one more in the bottom of the sixth to get the win. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Vis singled to score one run and a walk by Schwebach followed to extend their lead. 

Werdel earned the win for Tea Area, allowing four hits and four runs over four and two-thirds innings, striking out four and walking five. Christensen threw two and one-third innings of shoutout ball for Tea in relief. He gave up one hit, striking out four and walking one. 

Vis had two hits in the game with Dedula also recording a hit. 

The Titans will travel to Rapid City this Saturday, Apr. 27 and will face off against Rapid City Central and Douglas. On Sunday, Apr. 28 the team will travel to Pierre. The team will be home again on Tuesday, Apr. 30 when they host Sioux Falls Roosevelt in a 5 p.m. match-up.