As it turns out, the Brandon Valley Lynx are fond of rain delays.
Brandon Valley overcame a 2-0 deficit to Pierre before lightning and rain stopped the South Dakota State American Legion A Tournament opener for an hour-and-a-half Friday at Pete Lien Memorial Field. The Lynx exploded for six runs in the third inning and five more in the fourth for the 12-2 win in five innings.
Brandon Valley, 29-11 and the second seed of the tournament, faces the Rapid City Post 22/Renner Post 307 winner in Saturday's semifinals at 4:30 p.m.
"We were a little flat at the moment, kind of forcing it," Brandon Valley manager Jeremy VanHeel said of the slow start. "Maybe it was pressure right away. In the rain delay we were all here (in the dugout) as a team laughing and having some fun, just doing what we know we can do. We know we can hit, and we have good pitching. We showed how we can play."
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Before the lightning and rain, Pierre had the early edge, scoring single runs in the first and second innings on a RBI single by Andy Gordon and a run-scoring ground out by AJ Goedon.
Now under sunny skies again, momentum turned to the Lynx side. Pierre pitcher Lincoln Kienholz struggled with his control back on the mound before Brandon Valley exploded for six runs on six hits in the third inning.
Matt Brown got the Lynx on the board with a RBI single, and Brandon Valley went deep with a two-run double by Joe Kolbeck and run-scoring singles by Lake Terveer and Thomas Scholten.
Brandon Valley broke away with a five-run fourth inning on RBI singles by Jaxon Haase and Scholten, a two-run double by Michael Chevalier and a RBI groundout by Terveer.
Chevalier, meanwhile, got stronger after the rain delay on the mound, not allowing Post 8 anything on the scoreboard the rest of the way. His effort was helped in the top of the fifth when left fielder Connor Knecht threw out Goedon at the plate to end the inning.
Haase got the final run home in the bottom of the fifth on a single, scoring Brown.
Five Lynx — Haase, Kolbdeck, Scholten, Chevalier and Terveer — all had two RBI.
"We came into the tournament with a team batting average of over .300, and that is something that we have been able to do down the final stretch," VanHeel said. "Guys are just going up with great approaches and not chasing pitches that they shouldn't. We have a good plan, and they are falling through with it."
Chevalier got the win, going five innings and scattering six hits.
Andrew Coverdale had two hits for Pierre, which fell to 32-17 on the season and will play the loser of Post 22/Renner at 2 p.m.
"We struggled on the mound, which is what it came down to," Pierre manager Brian White said. "They (Brandon Valley) made a couple of really good plays in the field which kind of got them out of some innings, but overall it is what it is. We have to bounce back (Saturday) and play better."
Two wins on Saturday and Post 8 can climb up to the title game on Sunday, White said.
"Our goal is to figure it out and bounce back. We have a couple of seniors going on the mound, and hopefully they can find a way to get us a couple of wins," White said.
Two more wins would give the Lynx the state title.
"We have a chance, so we have to win a couple more games," VanHeel said. "We have a big game (Saturday). The four teams that are here are all great teams, with the way the tournament was set up with the regionals and super-regionals. All of the teams are where they should be. It will be a dogfight very single game."