SIOUX FALLS — No. 1 Washington beat No. 2 Jefferson 6-4 in an early-season high school baseball clash while Roosevelt nipped O'Gorman 1-0 behind the pitching of fireballer Jack Radel, both games Thursday night at Augustana's Ronken Field.
A fierce wind was blowing in and the pitchers took advantage in the opener, with Radel and O'Gorman's Jake Wheeler locking horns in a quick-moving pitchers duel. Radel, the Notre Dame-bound right-hander, routinely clocked 92-mph on his fastball, and allowed only a wind-aided double in four shutout innings. He struck out nine batters, including the final seven men he faced.
Wheeler matched him, however, and the teams were scoreless going to the bottom of the 7th and final inning. But the Knights committed a pair of two-base throwing errors to bring in the winning run and the Riders walked-off with the win.
Brody Bohnet relieved Radel and worked three scoreless for the win, while catcher Jaxon DeHaan had two hits in addition to handling the Rider arms.
"It was a tough night to be a hitter and a good night to be a pitcher," Riders coach Erik DeJong said. "We had Jack on about a 50 pitch (limit), but he's pretty efficient with his 50 pitches. We just get him out there, let him compete and know we have strike-throwers coming in after him."
In the nightcap, the Cavaliers jumped in front by scoring four runs in the first inning on just one hit, a two-run single by Thomas Heiberger, but Washington answered back with two runs in their half of the inning, both driven in by Tristan Fitzsimmons.
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The Warriors continued chipping away, eventually coming all the way back for the 6-4 win behind a 10-hit attack, as Jefferson couldn't score again off Washington starter Myles Rees after their first inning rally. Heiberger was 2-for-3 with a walk.
