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 By Jeff Baranick
With June halfway complete, American Legion baseball
takes center-stage on the North Dakota summer sports
scene, with a slew of games being played in multiple
divisions over the course of the past week. KDKT was on
the scene in Hazen this past Friday evening for a Class
B inter-district diamond clash between visiting Kidder
County out of District 4 and the District 1-based Astros
of Hazen Post 189. And after surrendering three
1st-inning tallies to Kidder County, Hazen stormed back
to claim a 13-3, 5-inning victory, pounding out 10 hits
against the opponents' pitchers. Leading the hitting
parade for the Astros was the heart of the
order--batters 4, 5, & 6 in the lineup: Brayden Haack,
Cameron Grimm, and Grant Krause. That trio combined to
go 6-for-8 at the plate, banging out three doubles and
three singles. Credited with the pitching win was Grimm,
while Grady Holen threw the last two innings in relief
for Hazen. Earlier in the week, the Astros got blitzed
at home by the Garrison Titans 21-6, as the Titans
erupted for 15 runs in their final two at-bats to break
a 6-all tie after five frames. Delivering a big hit in
Garrison's victory was catcher Emmit Lagge who belted a
6th-inning 3-run homer. In two other twinbills involving
a District 1 squad, the Beulah Cyclones swept both the
Dickinson Volunteers and Bismarck Barons. The home-field
Beulah victories at the expense of Class A Dickinson
were by scores of 10-3 & 8-7, while the Cyclones downed
the Barons at Bismarck's Municipal Ballpark by tallies
of 12-2 & 6-1. Going back to last Sunday, the Saskatoon
(SK) Diamondbacks nudged the Minot Vistas 8-6 in the
title-tilt of the BNC National Bank Border Battle
Tournament. Also in that six-team tourney, the D-backs
blasted the Bismarck Governors 13-6; the Mandan Chiefs
doubled up the Regina (SK) White Sox 14-7; and the
Vistas downed the Saskatoon Cubs 9-5. In another
high-profile baseball tourney staged in Lincoln NE, two
North Dakota teams squared off for the championship
after defeating two Nebraska squads. In the run-up to
the title-clash, Fargo Post 2 nipped Lincoln East 4-3
and West Fargo busted Papillion South 7-3. In the
tourney finale, Fargo Post 2 beat the Patriots of West
Fargo, 5-2. In additional AA Legion matchups this past
week--all twinbills--Post 2 swept the Dickinson
Roughriders 5-1 & 10-0; the Roughriders swept the Grand
Forks Royals 11-0 & 2-zip; Fargo Post 400 took two from
the Royals by scores of 9-8 & 7-3, plus notched two wins
over the Mandan Chiefs--12-6 & 5-1. Furthermore, the
Bismarck Governors and Minot Vistas split a pair of
games, with the Govs winning the first matchup 6-5 and
the Vistas the second one, 7-5. The Governors also beat
the Williston Keybirds twice; those game-scores were 3-0
and 16-6. Moreover, Rapid City Post 22 took the broom to
Williston, 8-7 & 11-1, while the Jamestown Eagles and
Mandan split a doubleheader. The Eagles claimed the
opener 9-2 and the Chiefs the nightcap, 5-2. In some
Class A baseball showdowns, the Bismarck Reps routed the
Williston Oilers 15-0 & 17-7; the Bismarck Senators
outscored the Valley City Royals 16-10; and the
Burlington Bulldogs and Minot Metros took turns beating
each other. Burlington won game one of doubleheader 7-4,
while the Metros notched an 8-6 win in game two.
Finally, in an inter-divisional skirmish, Class A's
Minot Metros rallied to defeat Class B's Washburn Post
12, 7-6. Now, in this new week unfolding, KDKT will
showcase two Class B District 1 diamond encounters from
Coal Country. On Tuesday (June 17th), the confrontation
is Washburn Post 12 visiting Hazen Post 189, with
first-pitch slated for 5:00 pm CT. The following day
(June 18th), Beulah will entertain Hazen at Goldmann
Field, with that game also scheduled for a 5:00 pm CT
start.
Filed
by Veteran KDKT Sportscaster Jeff Baranick
Listen for Jeff on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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Week's Wrap-Up: The Fargo-Moorhead
Redhawks lost their series with the Lincoln Saltdogs
last weekend, 3-1. Lincoln won game one 7-4 and game
two 10-1. The Redhawks bounced back with an 8-3
victory in game three, but fell 4-2 in the final
game of the series. Fargo-Moorhead took down the
Kansas City Monarchs 2-1 in their midweek series.
The Redhawks won game one 8-3 over the Monarchs, but
dropped game two 5-4. The Redhawks closed out the
series with a 9-6 victory on June 12th. This
weekend, Fargo-Moorhead began a three-game series
with the Lake Country Dock Hounds, and Lake Country
won the opening game 2-1. The Dock Hounds took the
lead in the first inning with one run, and they held
onto that lead until the bottom of the seventh.
Aidan Byrne brought home the Redhawks' lone run with
a single in the infield to score Robert Perez Jr.
from third. The Dock Hounds broke the tie with a
sacrifice fly to center field to score the
game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning.
Perez Jr. and Dillon Thomas were the Redhawks' to
record a hit in the game. Perez Jr. went one for
four at the plate with one run, and Thomas went one
for four at the dish with a double. Fargo-Moorhead
bounced back with a 5-2 victory over the Dock
Hounds. Lake Country jumped out to a 2-0 lead with
back-to-back solo home runs in their opening two
at-bats of the game. The Redhawks answered in the
bottom of the second inning with an Alec Olund
lead-off solo home run. Parker Stroh brought in the
tying run with a single that brought home Aidan
Byrne. Dillon Thomas broke the tie in the bottom of
the third inning with a solo home run to take a 3-2
lead, and brought in two insurance runs in the
bottom of the eighth with a double that scored Derek
Maiben and Thomas Green. Dillon Thomas led
Fargo-Moorhead offensively as he went two for four
at the plate with one run and three RBIs. Maiben
went three for four at the plate and scored one run.
Kolby Kiser recorded the win on the mound as he
threw five innings, allowing four hits and two
earned runs. He struck out four batters and walked
two. Garrett Alexander recorded the save with one
inning of work, striking out two of the three
batters he faced. Fargo-Moorhead closes out its
series with Lake Country on June 15th. The Redhawks
will then take on the Sioux City Explorers on June
17th-19th at Newman Outdoor Field. The Bismarck
Larks went 1-6 over the past week as they were swept
by the St. Cloud Rox 5-4 and 4-1. Bismarck then fell
11-8 and 8-7 to the La Crosse Loggers on June 9th
and 10th. The Larks split their series with the
Minot Hot Tots on June 12th and 13th. Minot won game
one of the series 6-2, but Bismarck bounced back
with an 8-3 victory in game two. The Larks took the
lead in the top of the fourth inning with four runs.
Sam Richardson brought home the Larks' opening run
with a double into right field to score Ryan
Christiansen from second. Frankie Santiago scored to
put Bismarck up 2-0 off a wild pitch that got past
the Hot Tots' catcher. Sonnier Moses then singled
into left field to score Richardson from third. Kyle
Hvidsten brought home the Larks' final run in the
bottom of the second with a single into left field
to bring home Moses from third. Bismarck added two
more runs in the top of the fourth inning with a
Jayder Raifstanger single that scored Carson Luna.
Sydney Ward then singled into center field to score
Kyle Hvidsten from third. Minot answered with two
runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth
inning. The Larks scored one more run in the top of
the sixth and one in the eighth. The Hot Tots' final
run came in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Hvidsten paced the Larks offensively as he went two
for three at the plate with three runs and one RBI.
Carson Luna was the only other Lark to record
multiple hits in the game as he was two for four at
the dish with one run. Ryan Radkey drew the win on
the mound as he threw four innings, allowing five
hits and two earned runs. He struck out four batters
and walked one. Bismarck fell 7-6 on June 14th to
the Willmar Stingers, and they jumped out to an
early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Bismarck answered with five runs of their own.
Carson Luna brought in the Larks' opening two runs
with a single into center field to score Erick
Dessens and Sydney Ward. Ricardo Aponte then scored
Jayder Raifstanger and Luna with a single into right
field. Dasan Harris gave the Larks the lead with a
single in the infield that scored Ryan Christiansen
from third. Sydney Ward put Bismarck up 6-4 in the
bottom of the second inning with a solo home run
into left field. Willmar scored once in the sixth
and seventh innings to tie the game up, but neither
team could break the tie in regulation. Willmar
scored in the top of the 10th inning off an error
from the Larks' pitcher, and Bismarck went three up,
three down in the bottom of the inning. Sydney Ward
paced the Larks offensively as he went two for three
at the plate with two runs and one RBI. Bismarck
closes out their series with the Stingers on June
15th before they host the Eau Claire Express for a
four-game series on June 16th-18th. The Badlands Big
Sticks went 5-2 over the past week, and they kicked
it off with a 3-1 series victory over the Willmar
Stingers on June 7th-11th. The Stingers won game one
17-12, but the Big Sticks won the following three
games. Badlands won game two 13-10, game three 10-5,
and game four 8-4. The Big Sticks split their series
with the La Crosse Loggers on June 12th and 13th.
Badlands dropped game one 7-3, but bounced back with
a 9-2 victory over the Loggers on June 13th. The Big
Sticks continued their winning ways with a 10-3
victory over the Mankato MoonDogs in game one of the
series. Badlands jumped out to an early lead with
three runs in the top of the second inning. Ryker
Schow scored the Big Sticks' first run off a wild
pitch, and Gavyn Schlotterback scored off an error
from the MoonDogs' right fielder in the same at-bat.
Shane Miller brought home Matthew Dieguez with a
double into right field in the following at-bat.
Mankato answered with one run of their own in the
bottom of the second inning. Chayton Fischer added
to the Big Sticks' lead with a double into right
field to score Troy Berg from second. Badlands added
two more runs in the top of the seventh, with two
unearned runs coming off another error from Mankato.
The Big Sticks added their four insurance runs in
the top of the ninth. Ryan Muizelaar brought in the
opening two runs with a single into center field to
score Shane Miller and Troy Berg. Gavyn
Schlotterback singled into center field to score
Muizelaar and Ryker Schow. Berg led Badlands
offensively as he went one for three at the plate
with three runs. Schlotterback went two for three at
the dish with one run and two RBIs. Justan Autry
drew the win on the mound for the Big Sticks as he
threw five innings, allowing one hit and one earned
run. He struck out four batters and walked three.
Badlands closes out their road series with Mankato
on June 15th before they host the MoonDogs for a
four-game series on June 16th-18th. The Minot Hot
Tots have gone 1-6 over the past week, and the
Mankato MoonDogs swept them on June 7th and 8th.
Minot lost game one 16-1 and dropped game two 7-3.
The Duluth Huskies took down Minot 11-3 in the
opening game of the series and followed it up with a
5-4 win. The Hot Tots' lone win of the week came
against the Bismarck Larks on June 12th with a 6-2
victory. Bismarck bounced back with an 8-3 victory
over Minot in game two. The Hot Tots dropped their
most recent game, 7-6, to the St. Cloud Rox on June
14th. The Rox scored the game's opening run in the
bottom of the first inning. Minot's first run of the
game came on a Matt Toomey single into right field
to score Henry Allen from second. St. Cloud took the
lead back with one run in the bottom of the third.
Minot scored twice in the top of the fourth and
added three more runs in the fifth to take a 6-2
lead. Bryson Webb scored in the top of the fourth as
Henry Allen drew a walk with the bases loaded to
bring Webb home from third. Christian Stratis then
hit a sacrifice fly to score TJ Stottlemyre from
third to give Minot a 3-2 lead. In the top of the
fifth inning, the Hot Tots again loaded the bases,
and Bryson Webb drew a walk that brought home Matt
Toomey. Stottlemyre then drew another walk in the
following at-bat to score Bryson Hoier. Henry Allen
brought home Webb with a single into center field
for the Hot Tots' final run of the game. St. Cloud
scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh
inning to bring themselves within one. The Rox won
the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
The game-winning run came as the bases were loaded
and a pitch hit Austin Haley to score Ethan Gibson
from third. Minot closes out their series with St.
Cloud on June 15th before they host the Duluth
Huskies on June 16th-18th.
Filed
by KDKT Sportscaster Josh Coleman
Listen for Josh on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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