Jun 11, 2006 - 02:08:46 CDT
The flashy strikeout statistics of a power pitcher are not Matt Kranzler's game.However, on Saturday, the Bismarck Governors right-hander demonstrated that there are tradeoffs that benefit control pitchers.
Kranzler watched the Governors turn four double plays behind him as he turned in a 4-1 victory over Valley City in the East-West Classic at Municipal Ballpark.
With the victory, the Governors improved to 4-0 in the tournament and on the season.
Valley City was playing its first game of the Classic.
Kranzler had a shutout going into the seventh inning, but was tripped up by the only walk he issued. Isaac Olson reached base via a one-out free pass and moved all the way to third on a wild pitch. Olson scored on John Ziemba's groundout.
While Kranzler said he'd never turn down a shutout, he didn't seem disappointed. "I just wanted to win," he said. "... I was just happy to get the win, because we didn't hit real well."
Bismarck jumped ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning as Valley City right-hander John Nilsen had trouble getting in a groove. Nilsen walked the first three men he faced, then surrendered a two-run single to Daniel Eichele. Josh Standing Elk's sacrifice fly staked Kranzler to a 3-0 lead, and that's the way it stayed until the sixth inning.
Kranzler gave up four hits over the first three innings but escaped unscathed as Bismarck turned four double plays in the first four frames. Those twin killings were a benefit of Kranzler's pitching approach: Let them hit the ball, but not hard.
"I'm usually a ground ball type pitcher," he said. "I'm better at placing the ball than blowing it by people. ... I try to hit spots and keep them off-balance with my off-speed stuff. ... That's what I have to do to get my outs."
After the Governors got to Nilsen for three runs in the first inning, Kranzler was wondering if he might get by with a 10-run-rule-shortened game.
It was not to be. Nilsen allowed only three hits the rest of the way, retiring 11 of 12 hitters over one stretch.
Nilsen gave up a fourth run in the sixth, paying the price for hitting a man. Justin Connell was plunked by a pitch with one out, stole second base and scored on Jon Hausauer's single.
"After the first inning it looked like they were kind of flat, but give him (Nilsen) credit. He kept us off balance and they played excellent defense," Kranzler said.
Kranzler said he's counting on plenty of defensive help when he takes the mound, and it was there Saturday.
There were only two errors in the game resulting in no unearned runs.
"We played good defense," he said.
Kranzler, who didn't bat against Valley City, turned hitter as Bismarck closed out the day with an 8-5 victory over Wahpeton to improve to 5-0 for the tournament. He socked a three-run home run in the third inning to put the Governors ahead 8-3.
TheMinot Vistas the only other unbeaten in the event at 4-0.
Mandan improved to 4-1 with a pair of wins over Wahpeton and Valley City.
The Chiefs jumped ahead of Wahpeton with a seven-run second inning, then had to hold on tight for an 11-8 victory as Wahpeton battled back with seven runs over the final three innings.
Ryan Schnell drilled two singles and plated four runs for Mandan. Mark Frenzel and Paul Moch added two RBIs apiece for the winning Chiefs.
Jared Johnson and Andrew Lundsetter banged out three hits apiece for Wahpeton. Lundsetter doubled and knocked in two runs.
Winning pitcher Andrew Tweet went the distance for Mandan, giving up 10 hits.
Later in the day Steve Platen rapped out three hits as Mandan defeated Valley City 8-4.
Ryne Jungling had a pair of hits, including a double for the Chiefs. Chad Brucker picked up the win for Mandan.
Action concludes with four games today. Bismarck takes on Fargo at noon at Municipal Ballpark while Wahpeton goes against Dickinson at Memorial Ballpark in Mandan. At 2:30, Minot meets Wahpeton in Bismarck and Mandan plays host to Fargo.
3 NOTES: Devils Lake left the tournament Saturday afternoon after taking a 17-3 drubbing from Grand Forks. The Storm was to have played Fargo in the next game, but instead went home, citing an exhausted pitching staff. ... Dickinson, which backed out of games with West Fargo and Jamestown on Saturday, is expected to return for a game against Wahpeton today.
Tournament Standings
Bismarck 5-0, Minot 4-0, Mandan 4-1, Grand Forks 3-2, Fargo 1-1, Wahpeton 1-2, Jamestown 1-3, Valley City 0-2, Dickinson 0-2, Devils Lake 0-3, West Fargo 0-3.
Bismarck 4, Valley City 1
(At Municipal Ballpark)
Valley City 000 000 1 - 1 6 1
Bismarck 300 001 x - 4 5 1
John Nilsen and Derek Zitzow; Matt Kranzler and Justin Connell. W - Kranzler. L - Nilsen. HR - None.
Highlights: VC - John Anderson 2-for-2; Zohn Ziemba 1-for-3, 1 RBI; Nilsen 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO. B - Daniel Eichele 1-for-3, 2 RBIs; Connell 0-for-1, 2 HP, 2 SB, 1 R; Jon Hausauer 2-for-3, double, 1 RBI; Dustin Wenzel 1-for-3, 1 R; Kranzler 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO.
Records: Valley City 0-11, Bismarck 4-0.
Minot 6, Jamestown 4
(At Memorial Ballpark)
Minot 200 002 2 - 6 6 2
Jamestown 010 003 0 - 4 7 4
Dane Towery and Fred Nelson; Nick Hertz and Camden Kretchman. W - Towery. L- Hertz. HR - None.
Highlights: M - Ryne Hornecker 1-for-1, 3 BB, 1 SB; Zac Elgie 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB; Jordan Huettl 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBIs; Ryan Bollinger 2-for-4; Towery 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO. J - Rob Harty 1-for-4, 1 R; Andrew Davidson 1-for-3, 1 R; Kretchman 1-for-2, 1 R; Greg Brown 1-for-3, double, 3 RBIs; Nick Hertz 1-for-2, double, 1 R, 1 RBI; 7 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 8 BB, 5 SO.
Records: Minot 8-1, Jamestown 2-4.
Grand Forks 17, Devils Lake 3
(At Municipal Ballpark)
Grand Forks 104 023 7 - 17 18 2
Devils Lake 010 000 2 - 3 7 3
Alex Kreis and Eric Davis; Lance Johansen Jared Preston (3), Brandon Elfman (4), Brandon Sigette (6), Britton Lagasse (7) and Lagasse, Jason Burdick (7). W - Kreis. L - Johansen. HR - None.
Highlights: GF - Jeff Bakke 2-for-3, 3 R, 1 RBI; David Spies 2-for-6, 1 R, 1 RBI; Dan Cary 3-for-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs; Jarrett Galbreath 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs; Steven Kraft 3-for-4, 2 doubles, 2 R, 3 RBIs; Kreis 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 SO. DL - Josh Greene 2-for-2, 1 R; Jared Preston doubled.
Records: Grand Forks 3-2, Devils Lake 1-6.
Mandan 11, Wahpeton 8
(At Memorial Ballpark)
Wahpeton 010 023 2 - 8 10 3
Mandan 072 020 x - 11 10 2
Andrew Lundsetter, Kory Braun (4), Seth Ehlert (5) and Dave Gulden; Andrew Tweet and Ryne Jungling. W - Tweet. L - Lundsetter. HR - None.
Highlights: W - Pat Cronin 1-for-1, 1 RBI; Gulden 1-for-2, 2 RBIs; Jared Johnson 3-for4, 1 RBI, 2 R; Lundsetter 3-for-5, double, 2 RBIs, 1 R; Taylor Lovgren 2-for-4, double, 2 R. M - Matt Keller 1-for-1, double, 1 R; Jared Quast 1-for-1, 1 RBI, 1 R; Chad Brucker 1-for-1, 1 R; Mark Frenzel 1-for-1, 1 R, 2 RBIs; Ryan Schnell 2-for-4, 1 R, 4 RBIs; Jungling 1-for-1, 1 RBI.
Records: Wahpeton 1-1, Mandan 3-1.
Minot 10, West Fargo 2
(At Memorial Ballpark)
West Fargo 002 000 0 - 2 4 1
Minot 201 241 x - 10 15 1
Dustin Gregory and Justin Rheault; Eric Steele and Zac Elgie. W - Steele. L - Gregory. HR - None.
Highlights: WF - Josh Green 2-for-2; Gregory 1-for-2, 1 RBI. M - Kory Houston 3-for-3, 2 RBIs; Tyler Lundy 3-for-4, double, 1 RBI; Jordan Martinson 2-for-3; Ryne Hornecker doubled; Steele 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO.
Records: West Fargo 2-5, Minot 9-1.
Bismarck 8, Wahpeton 5
(At Municipal Ballpark)
Wahpeton 120 002 0 - 5 7 2
Bismarck 404 000 x - 8 8 1
Tyler Lovgren and Seth Ehlert; Daniel Eichele, Jon Hausauer (6), Tim Jallen (7) and Torey Bohan. W - Eichele. L - Lovgren. HR - Bismarck, Matt Kranzler.
Highlights: W - Andrew Lundsetter 3-for-4, 1 R; Kory Braun 3-for-4, double, 2 RBIs; Pat Cronin 1-for-4, 1 R; Jared Johnson 1-for-3, 2 R. B - Cody Erhardt 1-for-3, 1 R; Kranzler 1-for-3, 2 R, 3-R HR, third inning; John Fraase 2-for-3, double, triple, 1 R, 1 RBI; Tyler Johnson 1-for-2, 1 R.
Records: Wahpeton 1-2, Bismarck 5-0.
Mandan 8, Valley City 4
Valley City 200 002 0 - 4 5 6
Mandan 211 040 x - 8 10 5
Derek Zitzow and John Nilsen; Chad Brucker, Mark Frenzel (7) and Ryne Jungling. W - Brucker. L- Zitzow. HR - None.
Hihgl VC - Preston Jensen 1-for-4, R. Zitzow 1-for-4, RBI, R. Derek Elliott RBI, R. John Bruentjes 1-for-2. M - Paul Moch 1-for-3, 2 R. Steve Platen 3-for-3, RBI, R. Jungling 2-for-4, double, RBI. Matt Keller RBI, R. Brian Bohrer 1-for-3, 2 R. Brandon Coyle 1-for-3, RBI, R.
Records:Valley City 0-12, Mandan 4-1.
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.