A’s clinch section

• Scott Gordon

Press Photo by Chris Aarhus Dickinson Volunteers hitter Scott Gordon looks at the scoreboard after striking out in the second game of a Section 8 doubleheader against the Mandan A’s Wednesday at Southside Municipal Ballpark.

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Rallying for a victory proved every bit as difficult as holding on to one for the Dickinson Volunteers Wednesday at Southside Municipal Ballpark.

After continuing a rain-halted game from a week ago, the Mandan A’s continued to pile on the runs, beating Dickinson 13-3 in five innings to clinch the Section 8 regular-season title.

“It hasn’t happen in many years at the Class B level in Mandan,” Mandan coach Jake Kincaid said. “This group has really improved throughout the year and that’s why we’re sitting where we are.”

In the nightcap, the Vols let a 9-8 lead going into the top of the seventh slip away, falling 13-10.

“We can’t dwell on these losses too long,” said Dickinson coach Carter Fong, whose team visits Hazen today and Bowman County on Friday to finish up the season. “We have four more games to play in the next two nights. We have a chance to end the regular season on a high note, so we can’t spend too much time feeling sorry four ourselves.”

Twenty-three runs crossed the plate in the second game, hardly what you’d expect in a game that featured both teams’ aces. Dickinson got to Mandan pitcher Brett Bryan in the third and fourth innings while Vols starter Sean Kelly labored through five innings of work, allowing five runs.

“Hitting just tends to be a little ahead of pitching at the Legion B level,” Fong said. “You don’t see too many pitchers’ duels. Neither starting pitcher had their best stuff today, but both battled.”

Mandan scored eight runs in the final two innings to rally past the Vols and improve its section record to 23-3 going into the A’s final doubleheader today at Washburn.

“Our offense has been consistent all year, and our pitching too,” Kincaid said. “Defense is one of our shortcomings. The key is our defensive effort.”

Bryan and Ryan Sandvik did all of the work on the hill for the A’s, though Sandvik reaped the rewards, statistically. He started on the hill in Game 1 and pitched four innings, allowing three runs to earn the victory. He was relieved by Bryan, who closed the door with a quick fifth inning.

In the second game, Bryan ran into trouble. He was pulled in favor of Sandvik, who picked up his second win of the night.

“We’ve had some trouble with some of the aces in the section,” Fong said. “It was nice to see that we got to Bryan.”

Korey Kallenbach had four hits in the doubleheader and in Game 2, Brett Braunagel, Scott Gordon, Grant Dvorak and Jordan Tescher each had two hits.

Mandan was led at the plate by Bryan’s 3-for-4 performance in Game 1, and in the second game, Trent Kruckenberg finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three runs batted in. He had the go-ahead double in the seventh inning.

Mandan 13, Dickinson 3

Mandan 350 41 — 13 11 4

Dickinson 200 10 — 3 6 1

Ryan Sandvik, Brett Bryan (5) and Trevor Huck. Scott Gordon, Brett Braunagel (2) and Grant Dvorak. W—Sandvik. L—Gordon.

Highlights: M, Bryan 3-for-4, Huck 3-for-4. D, Korey Kallenbach 2-for-3.

Mandan 13, Dickinson 10

Mandan 120 113 5 — 13 13 6

Dickinson 004 500 1 — 10 12 1

Brett Bryan, Ryan Sandvik (5) and Trevor Huck. Sean Kelly, Tevin Papineau (6), Aaron Berg (7) and Nick Rohwedder. W—Sandvik. L—Papineau.

Highlights: M, Trent Kruckenberg 3-for-4, 2 2Bs, 3 RBI. D, Korey Kallenbach 2-for-5, Brett Braunagel 2-for-5, 2B; Scott Gordon 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; Grant Dvorak 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 walks; Jordan Tescher 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI.

Tags: legion baseball, sports, volunteers