Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
All the athletes competing in the State Babe Ruth Tournament stand for recognition along the baselines during the Opening Ceremony at Rough Rider Center Field in Watford City.
The Sox celebrate their win against Watford City in the eight-inning opener after Koby Duda's hit brings Nick Berglund home
The best baseball facility the Bakken oil boom could buy awaited the SNR Black Sox Babe Ruth team for their first Class B State Tournament appearance in 17 years.
An artificial turf field adjacent to the sparkling $100-plus million dollar Rough Rider Center in the eastern foothills on the edge of Watford City served as the showpiece for the host club as they took on the Black Sox in the final game of the day Friday night, July 26.
In a back-and-forth affair that wasn't as clean as SNR Coach Seth Soderholm would have hoped, the 'Sox spoiled the Watford City Walleye's tourney opener with a 9-8 win in eight innings.
Koby Duda's walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth off the Walleye's Ty Howe brought home Nick Berglund for the winner, after the latter started the inning with a ringing triple.
Even with the heroics, Soderholm wasn't the most keen about his team's overall effort to fight adversity, which may have come about after a relatively drama-free District 2 tournament in which SNR was never really challenged.
"We struggled all around to throw strikes, but hit the ball okay," he said.
The speedy surface may have played some part in defensive struggles for both teams.
Playing as the road team in this instance, the Walleye, the District 1 champions with just two losses on the season, got on the board first with three runs in the top of the first inning on RBI singles by Ty Howe and Neil Dahl, and a groundout by Jason Hogue.
SNR would answer with two runs in the bottom of the frame on a Koby Duda single to bring home Kaden Jensen, and Alex Harrison's double scored Duda to make it 3-2.
In the second, the Black Sox added two more, thanks to two unearned runs coming via a pair of Walleye errors to give them a 4-3 advantage. Watford City would tie the score in the third, but the 'Sox came right back with a run later that inning on a Trevor Waldo RBI double. Harrison would drive in another run in the fourth to make the score 6-4 in SNR's favor.
That set the stage for a wild middle innings in which the Walleye would rally for a three-spot in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead. But, true to form, SNR would rally for two more runs on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Jacobson and an error which allowed Duda to score the 'Sox's eighth run to make it 8-7.
Berglund, who got the start for SNR, pitched well until his pitch count got high in the sixth inning, giving way to Jensen. Jensen pitched into the seventh before Harrison came on for the save opportunity.
However, late defensive yips would haunt the 'Sox once again. Watford City's Jace Willis would get on base after a dropped fly ball and advance to second on the play, and would eventually score the tying runon leadoff batter Britton Cranston's hit to short center.
The 'Sox had the chance to win it in regulation, but Howe, on in relief of Cranston, retired the side to send the game to extra innings.
Harrison would get a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth, and would eventually pick up the win.
Duda led SNR with a 3-for-4 game, and Harrison also had two hits. Additional hits came from Jensen and Johnny Grann.
Watford City's top hitters, all with two hits each, were Howe, Cranston and Dahl. Judd Johnsrud had the other hit for the Walleye.
The tournament hosts would finish 0-2 at the State B, and were eliminated by Langdon by a 4-3 score the following day.
State Class B Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament
Friday, July 26
First Round
SNR 9, Watford City 8
WC 301 003 10 -8 7 7
SNR 221 102 01 -9 9 4
Nick Berglund, Kaden Jensen (6), Alex Harrison (7) and Koby Duda; Britton Cranston, Ty Howe (7) and Judd Johnsrud. W - Harrison. L - Howe.
SNR: Duda 3-4, 2 SB, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Harrison 2-3, double, 2 RBI; Berglund triple, 3 runs; Trevor Waldo double, RBI; Jensen hit, SB, 2 runs; Johnny Grann hit, run; Hunter Jacobson run, RBI.
Watford City: Howe 2-3, RBI; Cranston 2-4, run, RBI; Neil Dahl 2-5, 2 RBI; Johnsrud hit, 2 runs; Jason Hogue run, 2 RBI; Jace Willis 2 runs; Kanyon Tschetter and Carson Voll one run each.
