Sioux Falls, S. Dak— A seven-run outburst by the Sunfish propelled Sioux Falls to a 14-10 victory over the Moo Saturday to end the regular season and to eliminate Fremont from playoff contention.

Fremont (41-23 overall/21-12 second half) scored first for the third straight game and in the first inning for the second straight game. With one out, Dillon Sears was hit by a pitch. EJ Taylor followed with a single to left. A walk to Luke White loaded the bases. With Jack Simonsen at the plate, Andalo Santangelo buried a pitch in the dirt, allowing Sears to score on a wild pitch while Taylor advanced to third and White moved to second. After Simonsen walked, Austin Baskin hit a grounder to second. Baskin flipped it to second to force out Simonsen, but a wild throw to first to try to complete the double play was wild, scoring Taylor and White to make it 3-0.

The Moo’s lead doubled in the second. Peyton Leeper led off the inning with a single to left. Tyler Push was hit by a pitch, putting two on with none out. Sears followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to first on which Push was forced out at second, but Leeper moved to third. Taylor drove a ball to the warning track in left-center that was caught by Adonis Forte II. Leeper tagged from third and scored to build the Moo lead to 4-0. White doubled to left, moving Sears to third. Simonsen ripped a two-run single to center, scoring Sears and White to make it 6-0, Moo.

Sioux Falls (30-34/16-17) scored with a two-out rally in the third. JT Mix lined a single to left and stole second. Adonis Forte II drew a walk. Then Mix scored when Stroh reached on an error by the third baseman, moving Forte to third. Forte scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-2, Fremont.

In the top of the fourth, the Moo extended their lead. Push reached on an error by the shortstop. He stole second, moved to third when the catcher’s throw was errant and scored when the centerfielder bobbled the ball in center. Sears doubled to right and moved to third when Taylor singled to left. Two batters later, Simonsen ripped a single to center, scoring Sears and Taylor to push the Fremont lead to 9-2.

The Sunfish cut into the Moo lead in the bottom of the fourth. Will Olson led off the inning with a single to left. Jesus Licon was hit by a pitch, then Dane Fraser hit a grounder to short, which Austin Baskin fielded but threw wildly to first, scoring Olson. The next batter, Ganin Thompson hammered a three-run homer to left shrink Fremont’s lead to 9-6.

The Sunfish took the lead in the fifth with a seven-run inning. Two infield singles by Dylan Criquet Danielson JT Mix drove in runs No. 7 and 8. After an RBI groundout by Forte tied the game at nine, two batters later, Norris McClure clubbed a grand slam to right to give the Sunfish a 13-9 lead.

Fremont chipped away at the deficit in the sixth. With one out, White drew a walk. Then with two outs, Baskin singled to left, moving White to third. Morphew lofted a fly ball to center that was dropped by Forte, allowing Baskin to score to cut Sioux Falls lead to 13-10. The Sunfish got a run back in the eighth, pushing the lead to 14-10.

The season as a whole was a success for the Moo, though they did not make the playoffs. Their 41 wins set a new franchise record for wins in a season, surpassing last year’s 34-20 record. EJ Taylor set the franchise single-season batting average record, hitting .xxx, while Brock Reller ended the season leading the Expedition League with 12 home runs.

The Moo conclude the season with a 41-23 overall record. Fremont’s 21-12 second-half record places them just 1.5 games behind Spearfish for the second-half Clark title. The Moo narrowly missed making the playoffs for the third time in the franchise’s three-year history.