Mustangs mount late inning comeback

Mother Nature has prevented local baseball for weeks, but on Monday, April 25, the weather finally calmed down enough for the SNR Black Sox to travel to Wishek for a matchup with the South Border Mustangs.

Despite having not played since April 11, the Black Sox wasted no time establishing a lead. In the top of the first, a single from Connor Knatterud and a double from Caden Price set runners on second and third with no outs.

Nick Berglund and Koby Duda were up next, and both knocked in a runner with productive ground outs. A strikeout followed, putting an end to SNR's offense that inning.

It was a productive first inning of offense for the Black Sox, but the strikeout that ended it would also put an end to SNR's offense that evening.

The Mustangs' starting pitcher, Jace Nitschke, would go on to pitch six shutout innings with strength and efficiency, allowing zero free bases and notching 10 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, SNR's starting pitcher, Keaton Cudworth, was seemingly on pace to equal Nitschke's success. In the first three innings, Cudworth allowed just two baserunners and got through the Mustangs' first rotation with relative ease.

As the game dragged on, however, South Border began having much more success at the plate as the Black Sox defense began to crumble.

The Mustangs' comeback began with a disastrous bottom of the fourth, which saw SNR asleep at the wheel.

A costly error got things started, allowing one runner to advance to first base, who later advanced to third after a wild pitch. Not long after, another runner stole second base, and with runners on second and third, a single drove in the Mustangs' first run.

An embarrassing sequence followed: as the runner at first attempted to steal second base, the runner on third sprinted towards home plate after seeing that the throw to second was mishandled, scoring South Borders' second run and tying the game.

Utilizing bunts and more advantageous base running, the Mustangs scored two more in the fifth to take the lead, followed by another in the sixth.

The Black Sox, meanwhile, could do nothing offensively as long as Nitschke was on the mound.

In the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, Nitschke didn't allow a single base runner, putting down nine SNR batters in order.

The Black Sox attempted a comeback in the seventh after getting runners on first and second with no outs, but it was too little, too late. After a couple more strikeouts and a fielder's choice out, the game ended at 5-2 in the Mustangs' favor.

The script was completely flipped for junior varsity, however. In only three innings, the Black Sox amassed 14 runs on just three hits. Mustangs' pitcher, Avery Brokaw, gave up 11 walks in those three innings, allowing SNR to, quite literally, stroll to victory.

Region 3 Baseball

SB 5, SNR 2

at Wishek

SB: 000 221 - 5 10 0

SNR: 200 000 0 - 2 7 1

SNR Individual Stats

Hitting: Kaden Jensen 1-3; Caden Price 2-3, 1 run; Nick Berglund 1-3, 1 RBI; Haydon Meier 1-3; Connor Knatterud 1-3, 1 run; Koby Duda 1-3, 1 RBI

Pitching: Keaton Cudworth 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO; Luke Yri 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

South Border Individual Stats

Hitting: Connor Kosiak 2-4, 1 run; Daniel Schumacher 1-2, 1 run, 1 BB; Seth Wolf 1-3, 1 RBI; Rykan Salwei 1-2; Jace Nitschke 1-3, 1 run; Berkley Frantz 1-2, 1 BB; Colin Goettle 2-2, 1 run; Parker Salwei 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB.

Pitching: Nitschke 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO.

Non-region game

SB 0, SNR 14

at Wishek

South Border: 000 - 0 3 0

SNR: 653 - 14 3 1

SNR Individual Stats

Hitting: Yri 2-3, 1 RBI, 2 runs; Knatterud 1-1, 3 runs, 1 BB; Easton Simon 1 BB, 1 run; Bradyn Collier 2 BB, 2 runs; Alex Weisenburger 2 BB, 2 runs; Cudworth 2 BB, 2 runs; Justin Sogge 2 BB, 2 runs; Vincent Ruppell 1 RBI.

Pitching: A. Weisenburger 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 SO.

South Border Individual Stats

Hitting: P. Salwei 1-2, K. Opsahl 1-1, C. Glaesman 1-1.

Pitching: A. Brokaw 3.0 IP, 3 H, 14 ER, 11 BB, 7 SO.