RAPID CITY - Zach Vlietstra provided the defense and Mark Mendel the offense as the Rapid City Angels knocked off Brookings Cubby's 7-5 in the South Dakota Class A state amateur baseball tournament at McKeague Field on Saturday night.

Vlietstra made two remarkable catches in centerfield, the second in the top of the seventh inning to rob Chris Brown of a lead-off extra base hit, and Mendel went 3-for-5 with a couple of RBIs to drive the Angels to the win.

Angels starter Lance Van Zee went six innings to get the win. Kasey Keller pitched 2-1/3 innings in relief before Brookings loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with a chance to tie or take the lead.

The Angels brought Vlietstra in from center for the last 2/3 of an inning and he struck out John Tadlock and Jimmy May to end the game.

"You just can't throw wild pitches and have three errors like we did and expect to win the game," Brookings manager Tim Buterbaugh said.

After Rapid City took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning when Steve Mitzel scored on a wild pitch, Brookings looked like they could expect a win when a Mark Schoeneman single with the bases loaded scored Tadlock to tie the game. That brought up Brian Estes, who lined a ball to right-centerfield. Vlietstra made his first great catch of the night, smashing into the wall and getting the ball back to home plate on one bounce to keep Brookings to just one run on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4. The home team appealed that the Brookings baserunner on second had left early and won to get the third out of the inning.

Rapid City came back in the bottom of the sixth and started a rally with a John Sayles single - one of two on the night. Mitzel bunted pinch runner Tim Long to second and he moved to third on an error on a Vlietstra grounder. Long came home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5 before Mendel knocked Vlietstra in with a single to right to go up 6-5.

Mendel knocked in Billy Dwyer in the bottom of the eighth to give Rapid City a two-run cushion heading into the ninth.

Rapid City will take on the Renner Roadrunners today at 1 p.m. while Brookings will play Vermillion in an elimination game at 11:30 a.m.