Roughriders defeat Post 2

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MINOT — Fargo Post 2 more than doubled the Dickinson Roughriders in the hit column Friday afternoon at the Class A American Legion baseball state seeing tournament.

But, when Fargo pitcher David Ernst ran into control problems, the Roughriders took advantage.

Dickinson scored nine runs in the first inning on just three hits en route to a 12-7 victory.

After entering the tournament with the top seed, the Roughriders will try and sew up that spot in next week’s state tournament when they face Bismarck at 6 p.m. today in their final game of the round-robin format tournament.

The second-seeded Minot Vistas could have leapfrogged ahead of the Roughriders after defeating them 8-5 on Thursday night. But, Minot dropped both its games on Friday.

Dickinson coach Andy Emard said beating Bismarck today is important.

“The more wins we get, the better off we’re going to be at state,” Emard said.

The No. 1 seed faces host and eighth-seeded Wahpeton Post 20, which didn’t win a conference game against North Dakota opponents this season but made the tournament because it is the host.

The Roughriders (32-9) looked like the state’s top-seeded team for much of Friday’s contest, beating back Fargo onslaughts and keeping Post 2 from doing any major damage.

“They’ve got quality arms,” Emard said. “When they’re commanding the zone, they’re a tough team to beat. We took advantage of the chances we got.”

Cole Frenzel and Ben Herauf each drove in three runs while Stephen Laylock had two RBI and scored two runs.

Dickinson starter Tyler Steffan went into the fifth inning before being pulled for reliever Michael Steve, who sparkled for his third straight appearance.

Dickinson came up with just six hits while Fargo put 14 on the scoreboard. No Roughrider had multiple hits.

“It was just another day to where he (Steffan) wasn’t really being hit hard, but Texas-leaguer style, and his pitch count was getting up there,” Emard said. “… Three outings in a row where Michael looked pretty good off the mound, which is nice to see.”

Fargo 041 200 0 — 7 14 1

Dickinson 910 020 x — 12 6 0

W–Tyler Steffan. L–David Ernst. HR–Fargo, Zach Argall.

Highlights: Fargo, Arball 3-for-5, HR, 2 runs; Kyle Kingsley 3-for-4, RBI; Eric Jagim 2-for-5, RBI. Dickinson, Cole Frenzel 1-for-3, 3 RBI, run; Ben Herauf 1-for-2, 3 RBI; Stephen Laylock 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Kyle Breen 1-for-3, 2B, 2 runs; Eric Seiler 0-for-3, 3 runs, 2 BB, HBP.

Records: Dickinson 32-9.

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