Fargo Post 2 blasts Patriots

WILLISTON - Bragging rights are safely in hand for Fargo Post 2.

Facing their West Fargo counterparts, Post 2 ended things early on Friday evening.

A hit parade from Fargo's lineup yielded a 21-0 blowout of the Patriots in a battle of undefeateds in the North Dakota Class AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Ardean Aafedt Stadium.

"We've beaten them before, they've beaten us before, obviously not by this amount," Post 2 head coach Luke Rustad said. "It was just one of those days where they left a couple of plays on the field defensively and we started to nickel and dime them, and things just got away from them."

The scoring started harmlessly enough. Three runs in the second inning could be overcome. Five errors before the end of three innings, it turned out, could not.

Post 2 piled on the runs quickly: seven in the third, four in the fourth, four in the fifth. That built an 18-0 advantage. Fargo added on three more in the seventh for the final tally. The hit discrepancy at the end stood at 24-3.

Fargo's eight-hole hitter Brandt Kolpack had three hits and led all players with four RBI.

"It feels good to take some pressure off the top of the lineup," Kolpack said. "We expected a good fight out of us. We just hit the ball and made plays."

The top of the lineup did its fair share also - Fargo's 1-3 hitters Ben Bryant, Jonas Sanders and Luke Sandy combined for 11 hits and nine RBI. Bryant and Sanders had four hits, while Sandy and Kolpack joined Jon Brooks and Jimmy Reynolds in the three-hit club. Cam Blazek collected two knocks, and Cole Birch and Taylor Parrett each had one.

Patriots pitchers Drake Flesche, Brady Beyl, Garret Levin and Denver Blinn all struggled from the mound, and the defense behind them offered little support, committing six errors in the contest.

"It's not every day that our pitching and hitting is on, that's not our concern," Patriots head coach Chris Coste said. "It's defense. We had seven errors yesterday and through three innings we had six errors today. That's a problem."

Flesche pitched the first two frames and allowed four hits and seven runs, though just one was earned. Beyl relieved him and pitched the next three innings, allowing 11 earned runs on 15 hits.

Fargo's Luke DeVries pitched a complete game shutout for the win. He struck out two and walked two. He allowed just the three hits to Jake Faircloth, Blinn and Parker Borg.

Fargo Post 2 automatically advances to Sunday's championship round, but it will first play Minot on Saturday. West Fargo will play Mandan on Saturday.

"We got to be ready tomorrow. Tomorrow can be a trap game," Rustad said. "We're already in the state championship, and I thought we came out flat in that game a year ago, and Minot was the team we played then, so I hope we learn from that. We still got a long way to go."

Fargo Post 2 advanced to Friday's evening game after taking down Minot in a very late evening game on Thursday.

After all games were delayed several hours, Minot and Post 2 got started at 10:32 p.m., but Fargo was determined to finish quickly. Fargo pitcher Karson Spiess pitched a complete game, allowing one unearned run on two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in a 2-1 victory. Sanders and Brooks each had an RBI, and Reynolds and Blazek each scored runs in that game.

Fargo Post 2 21, West Fargo 0

F 037 440 3 - 21 24 0

WF 000 000 0 - 0 3 6

F: Luke DeVries (7.0) and Chandler Ibach and Cole Birch. WF: Drake Flesche (2.0), Brady Beyl (3.0), Garret Levin (1.0), Denver Blinn (1.0) and Parker Borg.

W-DeVries. L-Flesche. HR-None.

Highlights: F, Ben Bryant 4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI; Jonas Sanders 4-4, 1 R, 3 RBI; Luke Sandy 3-6, 1 R, 3 RBI; Cam Blazek 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI; Brandt Kolpack 3-5, 3 R, 4 RBI; Jimmy Reynolds 3-4, 4 R, 2 RBI; Jon Brooks 3-4, 2 R; Taylor Parrett 1-3, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI; Cole Birch 1-3, 1 R; Chandler Ibach 2 R; Ben Swanson 1 RBI; Luke DeVries 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K. WF, Jake Faircloth 1-1; Parker Borg 1-3; Denver Blinn 1-3, 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB; Drake Flesche 2 IP, 4 H, 7 R (1 ER), 2 BB; Brady Beyl 3 IP, 15 H, 11 R (11 ER), 1 BB, 2 K; Garret Levin 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K.

1/2: Brandt Kolpack of Fargo Post 2 swings at a pitch against West Fargo on Friday during the North Dakota Class AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Ardean Aafedt Stadium. (Parker Cotton / The Dickinson Press)

2/2: West Fargo's Tyler Fritz swings at a pitch against Fargo Post 2 on Friday during the North Dakota Class AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Ardean Aafedt Stadium. (Parker Cotton / The Dickinson Press)