The Dickinson High baseball team didn't even have to play in the West Region championship baseball game to win the title.
Saturday's wet and windy conditions at Beulah's Goldmann Field forced the cancellation of the final round of the West Region Tournament.
Dickinson was scheduled to meet Bismarck Century in the championship game.
However, because the Midgets won the regular-season championship and took the top seed into the tournament, they were named the tournament champions and are awarded the region's top seed in next weekend's Class A state tournament.
"In reality, we earned it because we did have the best record during the season," Dickinson coach Pete Dobitz said.
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Century is the region runner-up and takes the No. 2 seed into the state tournament. Williston and Minot High, which lost in the semifinals, earned the third and fourth bids, respectively, based on their tournament seeds.
Williston was scheduled to play fifth-seeded Mandan in a state-qualifier game. Likewise, Minot was to play sixth-seeded Bismarck High for a shot at the state tournament.
"In the spring, you never know what kind of weather you're going to have," Dobitz said. "Luckily we had a good regular season."
Last season, the Midgets defeated Minot 9-5 in 10 innings to win the West Region title at Southside Municipal Ballpark in Dickinson.
Dickinson earned its spot in Saturday's title game - and, in reality, its second consecutive region title - with a 5-1 victory of the Magicians in the semifinals on Friday night.
While Dobitz said he would have loved to play Century today, he's happy the players, some of whom are nursing injuries, get a chance to stay out of the cold.
"It does prevent the possibility of someone getting injured," Dobitz said. "That way you go into the state tournament fresh with no injuries."
High school baseball
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Postseason schedule
West Region Tournament
At Goldmann Field, Beulah
Games Thursday
Quarterfinals
3) Dickinson 10, Jamestown 0 (6 innings)
4) Minot 3, Mandan 2
5) Bismarck Century 4, St. Mary's 0
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6) Williston 6, Bismarck High 5
Games Friday
Loser-out games
7) Mandan 4, Jamestown 1
8) Bismarck High 2, St. Mary's 1
Semifinals
9) Dickinson 5, Minot High 1
10) Bismarck Century 7, Williston 3
Games Saturday
Note: All games cancelled due to weather, higher seeds awarded victories.
State qualifier: Minot High def. Bismarck High
State qualifier: Williston def. Mandan
Championship: Dickinson High def. Bismarck Century
East Region Tournament
At Devils Lake
Games Saturday
Championship: Fargo South 4, Fargo Shanley 3
State-qualifier: Fargo North 7, Wahpeton 3
State-qualifier: Devils Lake 4, Grand Forks Red River 1 (8 innings)
Class A state tournament
At Mandan Memorial Ballpark
Games Thursday
1) Dickinson High (No. 1 West) vs. Devils Lake (No. 4 East), 11:30 a.m.
2) Fargo Shanley (No. 2 East) vs. Williston (No. 3 West), 30 minutes after Game 1 ends
3) Fargo South (No. 1 East) vs. Minot High (No. 4 West), 4:30 p.m.
4) Bismarck Century (No. 2 West) vs. Fargo North (No. 3 East), 30 minutes after Game 3 ends
Games Friday
Consolation round
5) Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:30 a.m.
6) Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 30 minutes after Game 5 ends
Semifinals
7) Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4:30 p.m.
8) Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 30 minutes after Game 7 ends
Games Saturday (times TBA)
Fifth place: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Third place: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser
Championship: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner
Awards
All-West Region
Dickinson: Cole Frenzel, Ben Herauf, Grant Kovacs, Tyler Steffan.
Bismarck Century: Hunter Johnson, Taylor Isakson, Zach Wentz.
Williston: Shawn Eggie, Doug Richter, Trevor Sorenson.
Minot High: Ryan Bollinger, Zac Elgie, Ryne Horneker.
Mandan High: Jared Quast, Steve Pletan.
Bismarck High: Tyler Peterson.
Bismarck St. Mary's: Matt Chuppe.
Beulah/Hazen: Levi Lawson.
Senior athlete of the year: Zach Wentz, Bismarck Century.
Coach of the year: Dewitt Mack, Mandan.
All-West Region Tournament Team
Dickinson: Grant Kovacs, Stephan Laylock, Jackson Wandler.
Bismarck Century: Luke Jesperson, Hunter Johnson, Zach Wentz.
Williston: Quinn Devlin, Shawn Eggie, Trevor Sorenson.
Minot High: Ryan Bollinger, Zach Elgie, Ryne Horneker.
Mandan High: Reid Jungling, Jared Quast.
Bismarck High: Tyler Peterson.
Bismarck St. Mary's: Matt Chuppe.
Jamestown: Levi Geunke.
