Jun 10, 2007 - 04:07:55 CDT
After escaping with a 2-1 victory over the Mandan A's on the first day of the Bismarck Class B Classic, Beulah was raring to go Saturday.It certainly looked that way.
The defending champion Cyclones defeated the Fargo White Sox 16-4 in four innings and Enderlin Post 219 5-2 at Bismarck's Municipal Ballpark to finish off a three-game sweep in Pool B play. They will advance to the Classic's title game for the second year in a row.
"Our pitcher did a great job, but other than that, we weren't happy with the way we played (Friday). ... We wanted to come out and show everybody that we were a better team," Beulah's Tyler Bauman said. "We had a good day all around. Now we're hoping to finish this off right."
The Cyclones will take on the Bismarck Reps in today's title tilt, which is slated to begin at 4:45 p.m. The Reps, who opened with a 3-0 victory over Kindred Post 117 on Friday, defeated Washburn Post 12 10-7 and was in extra innings against the Dickinson Roughriders when the Tribune went to press. A Dickinson win would throw Pool A into a three-way for first, with Dickinson, Washburn and the Reps all having 2-1 records. However, all of the tie-breakers were heavily in favor of Bismarck.
"Considering we had only one full practice this week, this is a big deal for us," Bismarck coach Mike Gustavsson said. "We came in not knowing what to expect, but the kids have given me a lot to be positive about."
Led by Brian Haugstad's 4-for-4 performance, the Cyclones opened the day with a 13-hit attack against Fargo pitching. Bauman, Ike Michaelson and Tanner Boe added two hits apiece, with Boe driving in three runs. Casey Hausauer was credited with four runs batted in - one on a third-inning triple.
The Cyclones scored four runs in the first inning, two in the second, five in the third and five more in the fourth to end the game early.
"We hit the ball a lot better than we did against Mandan," Bauman said. "It wasn't just a few guys ... it was everybody. We were pretty solid the whole game."
Fargo went 2-0 on Friday, scoring 25 runs in the process. On Saturday, the White Sox managed five hits off Beulah starter Haugstad. All of their runs were unearned.
Later, Bauman was outstanding against Enderlin after a shaky first inning. Post 219 tagged the 19-year-old right-hander for two runs, using three singles and a walk, but Bauman - who just completed his freshman season at Northern State University - settled down and pitched two-hit, shutout baseball the rest of the way. Kyle Langland's two-run single accounted for Enderlin's scoring.
"It was the first time I pitched since college, so it took a little time for me to get comfortable," said Bauman, who retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. "There were some jitters, but I settled down once I started to figure everything out."
Bauman finished with a five-hitter. He walked one and struck out nine - eight over the last six innings.
Enderlin starter A.J. Pfeifer held the Cyclones scoreless until Michaelson ripped a two-out, two-run single in the top of the third. Two innings later, Michaelson singled in another run and later scored from third on a double-steal.
The Cyclones added an unearned run in the top of the seventh.
As for the Reps, they opened up a 5-1 lead with a four-run third inning and held off a high-scoring Washburn team that had scored 36 runs in its first two pool games. After Washburn scored twice in the top of the fourth, the Reps put three runs on the board in the home half of the inning to make it 8-3.
Bismarck again answered after Washburn scored four runs in the top of fifth - three on a bases-clearing double by Cole Bender. A half-inning later, Zach Miller scored on Brady Wolf's suicide bunt, and Mitch Feist later came in to score on an error.
"The kids showed a lot of character," Gustavsson said. "They didn't get down on themselves because they gave up some runs. They just answered right back."
Wolf, who relieved starter Johnson in the fifth, worked 2 1-3 innings of scoreless baseball to get the save. The first out was a big one. Wolf struck out Cody Durkee with runners on first and second to end the fifth.
"That's what relief is all about ... throwing strikes," Gustavsson said. "That was a huge out in the fifth. Washburn had four runs in and a lot of momentum going at the time."
In other games Saturday, Washburn defeated Kindred 13-5 in five innings, and Enderlin downed the Mandan A's 6-1.
Post 12 trailed Kindred 4-3 after three innings, but took command with a six-run fourth and a four-run fifth. Nate Richard and Darin Rasmussen both went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in.
Darrin Kasowski threw a two-hitter and struck out eight to highlight Enderlin's victory.
Beulah 16, Fargo White Sox 4, 4 innings
Fargo 010 3 - 4 5 1
Beulah 425 5 - 16 13 4
Cody Cusey and Dave Nygaard. Brian Haugstad and Ryan Koch. W - Haugstad. L - Cusey. HR - None.
Highlights: Fargo - Cusey 2-for-2, 2B, 2 R. Brandon Audette 1-for-2, R, 2 RBIs. Beulah - Brian Haugstad 4-for-4, 4 R, RBI, 4 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, BB, 6 SO. Ike Michaelson 2-for-3, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBIs. Tyler Bauman 2-for-2, 3B, 3 R. Tanner Boe 2-for-2, 3 RBIs. Casey Hausauer 1-for-2, 3B, 2 R, 4 RBIs. Levi Lawson 1-for-2, R, RBI. Koch 1-for-1, R, RBI.
Beulah 5, Enderlin 2
Beulah 002 020 1 - 5 6 0
Enderlin 200 000 0 - 2 5 2
Tyler Bauman and Ryan Koch. A.J. Pfeifer and Zach Michaelson. W - Bauman. L - Pfeifer. HR - None.
Highlights: Beulah - Ike Michaelson 2-for-4, R, 3 RBIs. Casey Hausauer 2-for-4, R. Dane Johansen 1-for-3, 3 R. Bauman 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 9 SO. Enderlin - Pfeifer 3-for-3, R. Kyle Langland 1-for-3, 2 RBIs.
Enderlin 6, Mandan A's 1
Mandan 000 001 0 - 1 2 3
Enderlin 002 103 x - 6 6 2
Taylor Volk, Jordan Wenstrom (6) and Brennan Rossman. Darrin Kasowski and Zach Michaelson. W - Kasowski. L - Volk. HR - None.
Highlights: Enderlin - Kasowski 7 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 8 SO. Michaelson 2-for-4. Jordan Bueling 2-3.
Washburn 13, Kindred 5, 5 innings
Kindred 130 01 - 5 4 1
Washburn 201 64 - 13 12 1
Eric Hall, Adam Storbakken (5) and Tyler Johnson. Darin Rasmussen, Jason Durkee (5) and Blake Kaul. W - Rasmussen. L - Hall. HR - None.
Highlights: Kindred - Hall 1-for-3, 2B, RBI. Tyler Cossette 1-for-2, 2B, RBI. Washburn - Nate Richard 3-for-3, 2B, 3 R, 4 RBIs. Rasmussen 3-for-3, 3B, R, 4 RBIs. Jason Durkee 2-for-2, 2B, 2 R. Cody Durkee 1-for-2, 2 BB, 3 R. Jeff Schafer 1-for-2, 2B, 3 RBIs. Buddy Lazier 1-for-2, RBI. Kaul 1-for-3, 2 R, RBI.
Bismarck Reps 10, Washburn 7
Washburn 001 240 0 - 7 11 3
Bismarck 104 320 x - 10 8 3
Jeremy Misek, Blake Kaul (6) and Charlie Retterath. Hunter Johnson, Brady Wolf (5) and Taylor Isakson. W - Johnson. L - Misek. S - Wolf. HR - None.
Highlights: Washburn - Nate Richard 3-for-5, R. Kaul 2-for-4. Mitch Wachendorf 2-for-4. Buddy Lazier 1-for-2, 2 R. Cole Bender 1-for-2, 2B, 3 RBIs. Retterath 1-for-3, 2B, RBI. Bismarck - Jacob Hruby 2-for-4, 2B, RBI. John Harold 2-for-2, 2R. Hunter Johnson 1-for-3, R, RBI. Zach Miller 1-for-3, R, RBI. Isakson 2 RBIs.
Pool A
Standings
Bismarck 2-0, Washburn 2-1, Dickinson 1-1, Kindred 0-3 (Bismarck-Dickinson game was still in progress when Tribune went to press).
Pool B
Standings
Beulah 3-0. Fargo 2-1. Enderlin 1-2. Mandan 0-3.
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