Against the odds

• Brodie Candrian

Press Photo by Jason Adkins Dickinson Roughriders starter Brodie Candrian hurls a pitch to a Rapid City Post 320 Stars batter during the first inning Thursday at Southside Municipal Ballpark.
• Grant Dvorak

Press Photo by Jason Adkins Dickinson Roughriders first baseman Grant Dvorak hits an RBI single during the first inning Thursday at Southside Municipal Ballpark.

Talk about it

Winning a ballgame after committing seven errors isn’t an occurrence that happens every day, or even in a season.

But the Dickinson Roughriders American Legion baseball team overcame the odds Thursday night at Southside Municipal Ballpark.

Roughriders centerfielder Caleb Burgard hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the team an 11-10 win over the Rapid City Post 320 Stars in the first game of a doubleheader.

Dickinson lost 18-6 in the second game in a five-inning game cut short due to the 10-run rule.

Burgard knew he got it all as he launched Rapid City starter Chris Maks’ pitch over the right field power alley fence.

“I was looking for something to drive,” Burgard said. “He hung a curveball and I just did what I could with it.”

Roughriders catcher Nick Rohwedder walked to start off the inning.

Next up, reliever Korey Kallenbach reached first on a stroke of luck as his grounder went through Stars second baseman Dylan Striebel’s legs.

Rohwedder scored all the way from first.

Burgard’s blast ended it.

Heading into the seventh, the Roughriders (13-22) seemed to have the game in hand with an 8-6 lead.

However, Kallenbach struggled right off the bat as he gave up two straight singles.

Center fielder Matt Johnson tied the game when he reached after an error.

Dickinson had a chance to get out of the top of the inning with the game tied at 8, but third baseman Jordan Tescher couldn’t complete an inning-ending double play as he overthrew first baseman Grant Dvorak after forcing Johnson at third.

“It didn’t feel good at all, but they picked me up,” Tescher said of his teammates.

Right fielder Tommy Barbour’s single drove in Rapid City’s final run of the game.

Dickinson head coach Andy Emard wasn’t pleased, despite the win.

“Seven errors is unacceptable at any level of baseball,” Emard said.

He said that some errors come from trying to make a tough play, but throwing errors like Tescher’s are preventable.

“That’s just giving extra bases and extra outs, especially when you’re trying to close out a ballgame,” Emard said. “That’s when you need to be at your best.”

Before Tescher’s errors, he looked to be the hero. His three-run homer in the sixth gave the Roughriders the edge.

He also hit a two-run shot in the fifth that cut the Stars’ lead to 6-5.

Rapid City capitalized on Dickinson’s errors throughout the evening .

The Stars scored two runs in the fifth, one from a Barbour RBI single and another off a throwing error by shortstop Sean Kelly.

Two more runs came for the Stars after the Roughriders had a Bad News Bears moment in the third.

Rapid City was caught in a pickle with a runner on third base and another halfway there. Instead of forcing the trailing runner head back to second, Dickinson starter Brodie Candrian tried to get the lead runner out at third.

The Roughriders didn’t get any outs from the play and Tanner Feterl hit a two-run double just inside the third-base line during the next at-bat.

Dickinson plays the Mandan Chiefs in its final home game of the season at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Southside Municipal Ballpark.

Rapid City 013 020 4 —10 10 2

Dickinson 102 023 3 —11 9 7

Chris Maks and Matt Feters. Brodie Candrian, Korey Kallenbach (6) and Nich Rohwedder). W–Kallenbach. L–Maks. HR–Dickinson, Jordan Tescher (2), Caleb Burgard.

Highlights: Rapid City, Tommy Barbour 3-for-4, 2 RBI; Feters, 2-for-4, 2 RBI. Dickinson, Grant Dvorak 4-for-4, 2 RBI; Tescher 2-for-2, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Burgard 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI.

Rapid City 407 07 — 18 18 3

Dickinson 015 00 — 6 7 5

Tags: legion baseball, sports, baseball, roughriders