MITCHELL – A pair of Dell Rapids Mudcats pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout and struck out a dozen batters in a 7-0 victory over the Northville Merchants in the opening round of the State B Amateur Baseball Tournament at Cadwell Park on Saturday afternoon.

Dalton Allen struck out five batters in six innings of work, before Dalton Lehnen came on and fanned seven in three innings of relief.

The Mudcats score the only run they needed in the top of the second inning on one of four Northville errors on the day.

Dell Rapids added two more runs in the third on a ground out and a bases-loaded walk, before extending its lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Travis Peters and a sacrifice fly by Weston Hansen.

The Mudcats then tacked on two more runs in the ninth, one coming in on a Trevor Freudenthal double.

Freudenthal finished with two hits and drove in a pair. Chad Hunt also had two hits in the victory.

Northville’s best opportunity came in the bottom of the second inning when the Merchants loaded the bases with one out. However, a double-play ended that threat.

Dell Rapids 012 020 002 – 7 6 0

Northville Merchants 000 000 000 – 0 2 4

Dalton Allen, Dalton Lehnen (7) and Mark Abrahamson; Garrett Knox and Greg Heyne. 2B – Dell Rapids Mudcats, Trevor Freudenthal.