Mitchell Junior Legion eliminated by No. 4 Rapid City Post 22
Jul. 24—RAPID CITY — The 11th-seeded Mitchell Post 18 Junior Legion nearly pulled off an upset before falling on Friday, but was shut out on Saturday in a best-of-three playoff series sweep by the fourth-seeded Rapid City Post 22 Expos.
Mitchell led 4-1 after five innings in Friday's contest, but Rapid City rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim a 6-4 win before turning around to post a 5-0 victory on Saturday.
In Game 1, the Post 18 Junior Legion was paced by two hits — including a fourth-inning triple — and one run batted in by Karter Sibson. Parker Mandel, Gavin Soukup and Landen Soulek also had one RBI. Blake Brosz had one strikeout and allowed three hits in a five-inning start.
Tate Crosswait and Ryan Larson each had two hits and combined for three RBIs for the Expos.
Game 2 was decided by Rapid City's Jadon Moreno, who needed just 69 pitches to record a complete game with four strikeouts and three hits allowed. Crosswait also added two more RBIs to his weekend total, as Bryant Thaler scored twice.
For Mitchell, Kellan Odell accounted for two of the team's three hits, with Colin Stange owning the other. Soukup allowed four hits, struck out two and walked one, but was credited with the loss.
The Mitchell Post 18 Junior Legion season ended with a 16-15 overall record, 11-13 against South Dakota opposition.
