The Dell Rapids Legion Baseball players have kept close on the heels of their recent opponents, pulling out a handful of victories at the diamonds.

The 2012 Lewis and Clark Wood Bat Classic in Yankton June 3-4 proved tough competition for the Legion boys, who spent the Friday games versus Brookings and Spearfish trying to match runs. The Brookings team outdid the Dells one, 10-5, while the low-scoring Spearfish match left the local boys down, 1-0.

Saturday’s matches in the Classic brought South Sioux City, Neb., to the table, outdoing Dell Rapids in a 16-1 match, while host team Yankton closed out the Dells schedule for the tournament, 8-7.

An in-between road match versus Aurora gave Dells redemption, though, as the boys took Aurora down 11-6 on June 5.

On June 6, the Legion team hosted Garretson on Dell Rapids turf, resulting in a 12-6 win for the opponents. The Dells players connected often during their at-bats, with Weston Hansen and Jason Michel going three for four at the plate, Colin Karst and Michael Schmidt going two for four, Zachery Barber one for three and Channing Barber one for two, with a triple and two runs scored.

Taking pitching duties, Schmidt spent the first four-odd innings, until Kerzman finished up the fifth, Hansen relieved in the sixth and Karst closed out the match in the final three innings.