Sioux Falls, S. Dak. – A massive 11-run seventh inning propelled the Fremont Moo to an 11-10 victory over the Sioux Falls Sunfish Tuesday at Karras Park in Sioux Falls. The win clinched a 3-2 advantage in the five-game series between the two teams and gave the Moo first place in the Clark Division second-half race at the conclusion of Tuesday’s action.

Fremont (29-14/9-3 second half) snatched control of the game in the top of the seventh. With one out, Jack Simonsen singled through the left side. A walk to Ryan Koski and a single to left by Ryne Hays loaded the bases. Dillon Sears worked a walk, scoring Simonsen to cut the game to 4-1, Sunfish. Sioux Falls starter Mitch Stone was lifted in favor of Tom Sun. Darien Morphew lined the second pitch from Sun to right for an RBI single, scoring Koski. Then Austin Baskin reached on an error by the third baseman, driving in Hays to pull Fremont back to within one, 4-3. With EJ Taylor at the plate, Sun bounced a pitch to the plate, and Sears read it well and scored on the wild pitch, tying the game at four. Taylor followed with a single to right, scoring Morphew to put Fremont ahead, 5-4. Brock Reller was hit by a pitch, reloading the bases, ahead of Luke White ripped a two-run single to right to push it to 7-4. Simonsen reached on a fielder’s choice, driving in Reller to make it 8-4. Later, Hays singled to center to drive in Simonsen to make it 9-4. Sears followed with a two-run double to push the lead to 11-4, Fremont.

Sioux Falls narrowed the lead with three runs in the seventh and three in the eighth, but clutch pitching by Chase Reynolds in the eighth squashed the Sunfish rally with Fremont still leading, 11-10. Then Steven Boyd came out of the bullpen for the ninth and struck out three batters to earn his second save of the year.

The Sunfish (22-21/8-4 second half) took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Carter Tibbits clocked a leadoff home run to left to get Sioux Falls on the board. Then with two on and one out, Jonathan Brandon singled up the middle to drive in one. A two-run single by Benito Garcia pushed the lead to 4-0, Sioux Falls.

The win capped a historic day for the Moo franchise. Earlier in the day, Fremont native and Moo third baseman Austin Callahan was drafted in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds. Callahan is the first-ever Moo player to be drafted.

The Moo return home for a brief two-game homestand against Casper beginning Wednesday at 7:05 pm at historic Moller Field. It’s Weiner Wednesday, with $2 hot dogs. Also, it’s Ladies Night, with margaritas from La Hacienda for sale at the ballpark.