RAPID CITY - Rapid City Post 22 edged Sturgis, 7-6, in what was a seesaw battle on a chilly Tuesday night at Fitzgerald Stadium.

The two teams exchanged leads in the first two innings. Post 22 second baseman Parker Sullivan - who went 3-for-4 on the night - led off the first inning with a line-drive single to left field and then stole second. Two walks to Sam Wolff and Brock Estes then loaded the bases. Jarrett Jensen then hit a ball off the end of the bat to score Sullivan, making the game 1-0.

Sturgis took the lead in the top of the second after Trevor Potts reached on a walk, advanced to second on a ground ball and was then driven in by a lined shot from Brandon Huffman to right. The fielder missed, allowing the ball past him to the wall. Sturgis then went ahead when Eli Bueno hit a soft blooper over first baseman Paul Gates to drive in Huffman and give Sturgis a 2-1 lead.

With the game knotted at 2-2, Sturgis pulled ahead again in the third after Post 22 pitcher Jeremy Pulling walked and hit the first two hitters and Kasidy Huffman then hit a line-drive single in between short and third for an RBI, and a 3-2 Sturgis lead. Trevor Potts then hit the right center field gap for a triple scoring two more. By the end of the inning Sturgis led Post 22, 6-2.

"The game starts with pitching, and a pitcher has to go out there and throw quality strikes - not just strikes - and pitch ahead," Post 22 coach Dave Ploof said. "Our first two pitchers couldn't do that and we gave up six runs. Sturgis has a good ballclub, and they stayed back and hit a couple balls hard."

Post 22 battled back in the bottom of the inning after consecutive singles by Steve Ficken and Dana Hill put runners on first and third for Parker Sullivan, who was already 2-for-2 on the night. Sullivan hit a hard line-drive single to right scoring Ficken, and keeping runners on first and third. Jordan Mette then hit a routine ground ball to first for what looked to be a tailor-made double play that would get Sturgis out of the inning, but the first baseman over threw second and a run scored for Post 22, keeping the inning alive.

With the score at 6-4, Sam Wolff hit a long drive to right which the Sturgis right fielder misplayed, scoring one more for Post 22. At the end of the inning, Post 22 had taken back the lead, 7-6.

"I thought we competed well," Sturgis head coach Nic Ewing said. "But games like this show you how much little things matter. We missed played two balls and that came back to hurt us. When they came back on got the momentum that's when we needed to respond. But Post 22's pitcher that came in at the end kept us off-balance."

Sixteen year-old pitcher, Jon Hass, came in for Post 22 and pitched 4-1/3 innings of scoreless baseball ,earning him the win.

"Jon Hass came in and did the same thing that he did on the trip to Denver. He came in and wanted the ball, hit the spots, pitched ahead, and did an excellent job for us tonight." Ploof said.

The win takes Post 22 to 12-5 on the season, as they travel to play in Mitchell tonight before going to Omaha, Neb., to play in the Omaha American Legion College World Series Tournament this weekend.