PIERRE – Pierre produced a two-out walk-off game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning to outlast the Aberdeen Smittys 3-2 in high school baseball Thursday night. The second game was stopped in the first inning because of weather conditions.

“It was just a battle overall. They boys played great,” said Smittys coach Nathan Gonnelly. “When you play the number one ranked team in the state and you go 10 innings with them, it shows a lot about our team’s character and what they’re made of.”

Both teams had numerous chances throughout the contest.

Pierre scored in the bottom of the first inning on a fielder’s choice. Aberdeen matched that run in the top of the second inning when Grant Beyer singled, Jaxon Ladner doubled, and Beyer came in to score on a ground out.

Beyer gave Aberdeen its only lead on a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth frame, which Pierre matched in the bottom half of the inning when Trevor Rounds tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Aberdeen had two guys on in the fifth, but one was picked off. Pierre had three hits in the bottom of the fifth, but a double play prevented the hosts from scoring.

The Smittys put two runners on in the sixth, however one was picked off again. Pierre also had two guys on in the bottom half of the frame, but failed to score.

Aberdeen once again had two runs on in the seventh, and Pierre had a runner in scoring position in the eighth, but neither squad was able to score.

In the top of the 10th, the Smittys had a hit batter followed by a double by Michael Dutenhoffer with one out, but stranded the two runners on second and third. That set the stage for Pierre’s walk-off hit as Ridge Leimbach singled, advanced to second on a ground out and eventually scored on a two-out single by Hunsley.

“We had great pitching. Michael Dutenhoffer came out and started the game well for us,” Gonnelly said, “followed by Grant Beyer who pitched a couple of solid innings, and Jaxon Ladner finished out the game very strongly.”

Dutenhoffer led the Smittys with three hits, and Beyer added two.

Pierre received two hits apiece from Carter Schiefelbein, Sutton Sonnenschein, Charlie Simpson, Leimbach, and Hunsley.

The Smittys will host Brookings in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Monday at Fossum Field.

Aberdeen Smittys 010 100 000 0 – 2 9 2

Pierre 100 100 000 1 – 3 14 0

Michael Dutenhoffer, Grant Beyer (5), Jaxon Ladner (9) and Levi Hoffman, Carter Jaragoske (9); Weston Northrup, W. Danburg (7) and Charlie Simpson. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Ladner, Dutenhoffer. 3B – Pierre, Trevor Rounds. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Beyer.