STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis Scoopers ended a six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion with a walk-off win in game one, and a dominant pitching performance by a freshman in the nightcap to sweep the Rapid City Central Cobblers at Strong Field on Friday. Rapid City Central opened the scoring in the third inning in game one after Steven Solano tripled, scoring one run. Sturgis took back the lead in the bottom of the third, plating two runs on a Cobbler error to take a 2-1 advantage. The Scoopers added two more in the bottom of the sixth and looked to have the game well in hand until Central scored three runs to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh. Cobbler pitcher Nathan Mailloux hit two Scooper batters in bottom of the seventh, putting Jack Jolley at third with one out Kjell Sundstrom’s hot bat stroked a 1-2 pitch into centerfield, driving home Jolley to give Sturgis a 5-4 walk-off victory. Brody Royer got the start for Sturgis. The right-hander allowed five hits and one run over six and one-third innings, striking out nine and walking three. After Royer hit the maximum pitches allowed at 105, Bridger Massa-Battin came in and threw 2/3 of an inning, surrendering three hits and three runs. Sundstrom went 2-for-4 at the dish. The Scoopers finished with four hits and no errors. Nathan Mailloux threw 4 1/3 innings for Rapid City Central, surrendering two hits and two runs over four and one-third innings, striking out 10 and walking four. Central had eight hits and two errors. In game two, freshman Cael Pool got the pitching start for Sturgis, facing off against Laken Uttecht from Rapid City Central. The Scoopers put up four runs in the first inning and three more in the second to jump out to a 7-0 lead early in the nightcap. Pool used a variety of pitches to keep the Central batters off balance, keeping the Cobblers off the scoreboard until the top of the fifth when they scored four runs off of four hits to cut into the Scooper lead. Sturgis added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game of reach, getting the 10-4 victory and the sweep of Central. Pool’s low pitch count allowed him to earn a complete game win, finishing with 98 pitches, five strikeouts, one walk and holding the Cobblers to six hits. Sturgis had four hits and were led by Ethan Cermak, who went 2-for-4 at the plate. The Scoopers had four errors. Uttecht took the loss for Central, throwing 108 pitches over five innings, giving up only one hit, walking five and striking out nine. The Cobblers finished with six hits and seven errors. The Scoopers improved to 9-7 and complete their regular season on Saturday at home against the Douglas Patriots. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm. Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More