Vols stymied at Classic

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By The Press Staff

WILLISTON — The Dickinson Volunteers handled themselves well against the ace of a solid Montana American Legion baseball team.

But, errors opened the flood gates in the third inning as Wolf Point scored seven runs en route to an 8-4 victory at the Williston Classic.

Wolf Point pitcher Chris Kasokawa allowed eight hits but battled out of some jams. Kasokawa plans to play baseball for Jamestown College.

Dickinson scored two runs after stringing together four two-out hits in the sixth inning.

“We had some great at-bats and showed some fight in the sixth inning,” Dickinson coach Carter Fong said.

However, Fong said the Yellow Jackets’ (34-4) seven-run third was the Volunteers’ downfall.

“We’re not making some routine plays right now, which makes life difficult for our pitchers,” Fong said. “It’s too bad, because we did everything we needed to at the plate to make this one a ball game.”

Taylor Thiel and Brett Braunagel each had a double and an RBI. Braunagel and Nick Rohwedder had a pair of hits. Kevin Theurer took the loss on the hill.

Braxton MacKenzie relieved Theurer in the fourth and pitched three scoreless innings to give the Volunteers a chance to come back.

WP 107 000 — 8 8 2

Dickinson 100 012 — 4 8 3

Chris Kasokawa and Brian Vance. Kevin Theurer, Braxton Mackenzie (4), and Nick Rohwedder. W–Kasokawa. L–Theurer (2-3).

Highlights: Wolf Point, Nolan Harris 2-for-3, BB, 2RBI. Dickinson, Taylor Thiel 1-for-2, 2B, RBI; Brett Braunagel 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; Nick Rohwedder 2-for-3; Brendin Steiner 1-for-3, 2B.

Records: Wolf Point 34-4, Dickinson 19-13

Williston 12,

Dickinson 1 (5 innings)

Williston pitcher Chris Barke tossed a complete-game one-hitter and, once again a team made Dickinson pay for its mistakes in the third inning.

Williston scored nine runs in the third en route to its win via the eight-run tournament rule in five innings.

Casey Axtman went 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and five runs batted in for the Oilers.

Rohwedder had Dickinson’sonly hit. He was 1-for-3.

Pitcher Aaron Berg went two outs into the third inning before being pulled for MacKenzie, who again was solid. MacKenzie pitched 1Zc scoreless innings.

“Again, our defense let us down,” Fong said. “Berg throws strikes, but he’s only effective if we make plays behind him. It snowballed into a situation where the errors were contagious and everyone was hanging their head.”

The Volunteers (19-14) face Renville County in the fifth-place game at 10 a.m. today.

Dickinson 100 00 — 1 1 5

Williston 309 0x — 12 7 2

Aaron Berg, Mackenzie (3), and Jamie Kuntz. Chris Barke and Caleb Turcotte. W–Barke. L–Berg (1-2). HR–Williston, Casey Axtman.

Highlights: Dickinson, Rohwedder 1-for-3. Williston, Barke, 5 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, BB, HBP; Axtman 2-for-2, BB, 2b, HR, 5RBI.

Records: Dickinson 19-14.

Tags: legion baseball, sports, volunteers