MITCHELL — Mitchell seemingly had an answer for every Sioux Falls Jefferson offensive burst.
In a back-and-forth affair Tuesday at Cadwell Park, Mitchell picked up an 8-5 win over the Cavaliers in the first game of a doubleheader.
When Jefferson put up three runs in the top of the first, Mitchell answered right back with four of its own in the bottom half of the inning. And when the Cavaliers tied things up at five in the fourth, the Kernels reclaimed the lead, promptly responding by plating two runs in the home half of the inning.
“We had a way better focus (Tuesday) than we did (Monday),” head coach Luke Norden said, referencing Mitchell’s 6-1 loss to Brandon Valley the night prior. “We just gave ourselves way more opportunities every inning.”
Peyton Mandel delivered a pair of big hits, picking up a two-RBI single in the first and collecting two more RBIs on a double in the fourth, which gave Mitchell a lead it didn’t relinquish. He also scored twice and picked up the save on the mound, throwing two innings, allowing one hit and no runs.
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Gavin Soukup started on the mound for Mitchell and got the win, going five innings, allowing five runs (all earned), six hits and striking out five.
Hudson Haley also had a multi-hit game for the Kernels, while Hudson Borgan picked up a pair of RBIs on a two-out single in the first inning. Dylan Soulek was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Mitchell finished the game with eight hits, and the win snapped a four-game losing streak.
“I thought our guys did a really good job swinging in the first game with the hits that we had but also with the outs that we had with hitting the ball hard,” Norden said.
Game 2: Jefferson 5, Mitchell 4
While the offense started early in the first game, the nightcap of the doubleheader was a pitchers duel until the fifth inning.
Mitchell’s Peyton Schroder and Jefferson’s Noah Willis traded scoreless innings until Mitchell broke through in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Lincoln Bates. Jefferson responded with three runs in the top of the sixth, but Mitchell tied it up in the home half of the inning on a two-out, two-RBI double from Mason Herman.
But two runs in the top of the seventh from the Cavaliers (2-6) proved to be too much for the Kernels, who moved to 4-5 with the loss. Mitchell’s next contest comes Saturday, April 29, when the Kernels take on Harrisburg in a doubleheader on the road.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win the second game,” Norden said. “We look at it from a standpoint of progress. We just got to give ourselves a chance to be in every game. Our pitchers did a really good job helping us stay in the baseball game in both games.”
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