Section 8 Tournament: Volunteers smash Hazen

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MANDAN — Dickinson left no doubt it still belonged in the Section 8 American Legion baseball tournament Friday at Memorial Ballpark.

The Volunteers scored six runs in the second inning — three in a row on three consecutive hits — and had pitchers Kevin Theurer and Aaron Berg combine for a one-hitter as they knocked Hazen out of the tournament in the loser-out bracket.

Jordan Tescher and Sean Kelly had back-to-back RBI doubles and Jamie Kuntz added an RBI single in the third to give Dickinson a 3-0 lead.

The Volunteers (26-19) stole four bases in the inning, which put runners in scoring position and allowed them to bring base runners home with ease.

“We’re a completely different team when we take a lead and that showed today,” Dickinson coach Carter Fong said. “Having a lead allows us to be aggressive on the bases. We load the top of our lineup with speed and just try to run as much as possible.

“Hazen broke down a little bit defensively so our running game forced them to make a play and they couldn’t and we ran up six runs pretty quickly.”

While Dickinson put its runs on the board at a quick pace, its pitcher did his job to get them back in the batter’s box in a timely fashion.

Theurer put out seven consecutive batters in the second, third and fourth innings and allowed his only hit — a single by Chris Krause — on the second at-bat of the first inning. It was his third time facing Hazen this season and his second win against them.

“He was on. He looked great,” Fong said. “Kevin being a lefty, his fastball’s got a lot of movement on it. This is the third time this year Hazen has seen him, but the third time was the charm.”

He struck out six and walked five, three of them in the fifth inning. Fong wasted no time pulling the left-handed starter at that point, going to reliever Aaron Berg.

Berg entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs. He struck out his first two batters and got a ground out to end the game.

Tescher, who went 3-for-4, added a solo homer over the park’s “Chain Monster” in left field in the fourth inning.

Hazen starter Tanner Borlaug, ironically facing Dickinson for the third time this season, took the loss.

Dickinson faces Beulah, a 10-0 loser against top-seeded Mandan on Friday, in the loser-out semifinals at noon today. The winner plays at noon Sunday in the first championship game.

Dickinson needs to win its next three games to win the section championship. Fong said the team’s goal was to reach Sunday’s title game.

“We’re trying to keep focused on what’s right in front of us,” Fong said. “We can win one game tomorrow and we’re alive on championship Sunday. Heading into the season, that was a realistic goal for us. … Now we’re one game away and we do have four or five fresh arms left. We’ve got a chance.”

Dickinson 063 12 — 12 11 0

Hazen 000 00 — 0 1 5

Kevin Theurer, Aaron Berg (5) and Jamie Kuntz. Tanner Borlaug, Justin Heldstab (3) and Kyle Irwin. W–Theurer. L–Borlaug. HR–Dickinson, Jordan Tescher.

Highlights: Dickinson, Kevin Theurer 4 IP, 6 K, 5 BB, 1 H, 0 R; Aaron Berg 1 IP, 2 K, 0 H; Korey Kallenbach 2-for-3, 2 runs; Grant Dvorak 2-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 runs; Jordan Tescher 3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Sean Kelly 1-for-3, 2B, RBI; Jamie Kuntz 1-for-4, RBI. Hazen, Chris Krause 1-for-3.

Records: Dickinson 26-19

Washburn 10, Hettinger 2

Washburn put five runs on the board in the sixth inning to help eliminate the Bears in the loser-out bracket.

Washburn pitcher Jeff Rasmussen struck out five while giving up just four hits and two earned runs to earn the win. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored a pair of runs.

Charlie Reterath went 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Cody Durkee added three runs as he went 2-for-3 with a double.

Brade Schweitzer led Hettinger, going 2-for-3 with a double.

Hettinger 000 200 0 — 2 4 4

Washburn 300 205 x — 10 12 2

Jerad Jacobsen, Joe Sackman (6) and Blaise Kautzman. Jeff Rasmussen and Cody Durkee. W–Rasmussen. L–Jacobsen.

Highlights: Hettinger, Brad Messer 1-for-2; Brade Schweitzer 2-for-3, 2B. Washburn, Cody Durkee 2-for-3, 2B, 3 runs; Charlie Reterath 2-for-2, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Jeff Rasmussen 2-for-4, 2 runs; Kenny Tygert 2-for-2; Keith Loetzenhizer 2-for-2.

Mandan 10, Beulah 0

Behind Brett Bryan’s one-hitter, Mandan advanced to today’s semifinal game against Washburn.

Tanner Schaf went 3-for-3 while driving in a run and scoring two more. Trevor Huck added two RBI and a double. Jesse Grad had Beulah’s only hit.

Mandan 190 00 — 10 10 2

Beulah 000 00 — 0 1 5

Brett Bryan and Dwight Mack. Logan Kessler and Ryan Koch. W–Bryan. L–Kessler.

Highlights: Mandan, Bryan 5 IP, 1 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 0 ER; Tanner Schaf 3-for-3, 2 runs, RBI; Trent Kruckenberg 2-for-3; Trevor Huck 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2B.

Tags: legion baseball, sports, baseball, volunteers