The Dickinson Roughriders took their blows in pool play during a tournament in Billings, Mt. over the weekend, but they rebounded in style finishing the tournament with two wins in a row and a 2-3 record.
Jaren Hugelen went on a tear in the five games with eight hits and seven runs drove in.
In the first game, the Billings Scarlets took down the Roughriders 10-2 after scoring eight runs in the first inning.
“We pretty much got off the bus and were down 8-0 in the first inning,” Roughriders head coach Tyler Frenzel said. “We had six or seven walks in that inning. That put a damper on us right away. We have worked really hard on limiting our walks and we have done a really good job of that up to this point.”
The Roughriders struck first, however, as Carson Weiler doubled to left field driving in Troy Berg.
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Hugelen did homer in the loss on a line drive to left field in the sixth inning.
In the next contest, the Beaverton, Ore. Sockeyes bested Dickinson on Friday, 10-5.
The Roughriders led 5-3 after four frames, but the Sockeyes bats propelled them to a big fifth inning and victory.
Beaverton scored six runs in the inning in what was a very sloppy game.
Dickinson committed four errors, while Beaverton recorded five.
Frenzel said with all the walks and errors that Dickinson did not play their best baseball at the beginning of the weekend.
Kobe Krenz drove in two runs in the loss while Weiler and Berg both had two hits.
The final loss of the weekend came on Friday in a 15-0 loss to NWP Black out of Idaho.
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The lone bright spot was Jaren Hugelen who recorded two hits.
“Jaren had a nice tournament. He was a bright spot and he swung the bat really well,” Frenzel said. “He has been working very hard to get back to where he started at the beginning of the year.”
The first win of the weekend came on Saturday when the Roughriders plated six runs in the first inning against NWP Red and went on to win 8-3.
Reese Mack got the win on the mound. Hugelen drove in two runs in the first frame and recorded two hits in the while, Aiden Haich had three hits.
Hugelen’s biggest game of the weekend came in the finale vs. Clutch a club team from Colorado. He had four RBI with two hits and two runs scored in the 10-1 win.
The Roughriders scored five runs in the first inning and four more in the second to take control from the very beginning.
A big propeller for the success was Dickinson’s patience at the plate as they drew 11 walks.
“We got up early against Clutch and they ran out of pitching and struggled with their command,” Frenzel said. “We took advantage of it… We have been working hard on getting off on the right foot. We need to limit our walks. We are going to keep working.”
