Aug 04, 2007 - 00:02:54 CDT
DEVILS LAKE - Williston's runs come in bunches, like grapes.It's that ability to muster explosive offense that has propelled Williston into the championship game of the Western Division Legion baseball tournament.
The Keybirds advanced to the final with a four-run ninth inning that gave them a 9-7 victory over top-seeded Bismarck at Roosevelt Park Friday evening. With the win, Williston secured a berth in next week's state tournament at Fargo.
Williston, 33-21, takes on Minot, 42-13, in today's 3:30 p.m. championship game. The setback drops Bismarck into the losers' bracket against Mandan. The loser-out game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Big innings were what Williston was made of against Bismarck. The Keybirds rode a four-run third frame to a 5-0 lead early in the game and overtook the Governors with an eleventh-hour four-spot.
Williston roughed up losing pitcher Jon Hausauer for seven hits in the ninth, thus erasing a 7-5 deficit.
A double by Shawn Egge and a single by Quinn Devlin got the decisive uprising started. Andy Leer sent them both home with a home run over the left-field fence, his second round-tripper of the tournament. Tyler Liffrig followed Leer's shot with a double and later scored on a single by James Laqua.
The Keybirds sent 10 men to the plate during the rally.
With an advantage going into the bottom of the ninth, Williston coach Greg Beauchman went to his closer, Leer. Leer surrendered a hit to Cody Erhardt and fanned a man in pitching a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season.
Liffrig jump-started Williston's offense, slicing a 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence in the second inning for the first run of the game.
The Keybirds fattened their advantage to 5-0 with a third-inning four-spot. Leer doubled in a run, McHale Maristuen drilled a two-run single, and a third run scored on the play when shortstop Justin Connell dropped center fielder Cody Erhardt's throw.
Bismarck began to peck away in the third on Dustin Wenzel's run-scoring single. Jeremy Campbell singled home a run in the fourth to make it 5-2.
Torey Bohan's two-run single was at the heart of a three-run rally as the Governors tied the game in the fifth.
Bismarck took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the seventh as the Keybird defense broke down.
Bohan opened the inning with a single and the next batter, Tyler Johnson, put down a sacrifice. Relief pitcher Brian Qvale grabbed the bunt and threw high over Liffrig's head at first base. Right fielder Quinn Devlin retrieved the errant throw and fired back to the infield, his throw rolling into the third base dugout. Both Bohan and Johnson scored on the play, putting Bismarck up 7-5.
Williston's offense, meanwhile, fell silent. The Keybirds were scoreless against Wentz, and Hausauer from the fourth through the eighth innings.
But the Keybirds still had plenty of fuel in the tank.
Bismarck, 32-14, will face Mandan for the fifth time this season. The Governors stand 4-0 against the Chiefs, who are 19-35.
Williston 014 000 004 - 9 17 1
Bismarck 001 130 200 - 7 13 3
Tucker Slagle, Brian Qvale (5), Andy Leer (9) and Devin Kvernum; Zach Wentz, Jon Hausauer (7) and Torey Bohan. W - Qvale, 3-0. L - Hausauer, 4-4. SV - Leer. HR - Williston, Tyler Liffrig, Leer.
Highlights: W - Shawn Egge 3-for-6, 2 doubles, 2 R; Quinn Devlin 2-for-5, 2 R; Liffrig 3-for-5, double, triple, HR, 3 R; McHale Maristuen 2-for-5, 2 RBIs; Doug Richter 2-for-5; Leer 3-for-5, double, HR, 2 R, 3 RBIs. B - Cody Erhardt 3-for-4, double; Dustin Wenzel 3-for-5; Bohan 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBIs; Matt Loomis 2-for-4, 1 RBI.
Records: Williston 33-21, Bismarck 32-14.
Minot 9, Dickinson 3
Jordan Huettl forgot to read Dickinson's press clippings.
Huettl, a Minot right-hander, cooled off a Dickinson attack that had produced 11 runs the previous day. Huettl surrendered just four hits in 6 1-3 innings as the Vistas won 9-3 in a semifinal game.
Huettl, who improved to 7-1 with the win, gave up only one earned run. He handed the game ball to lefty Ryan Bollinger with one man out and two on in the seventh inning. Bollinger yielded only one hit the rest of the way while fanning three.
Minot coach Todd Larson had nothing but praise for the work of his pitchers.
"Jordan Huettl was outstanding. He threw well," Larson said. "... He's a 19-year-old, and he wanted the baseball. ... He really neutralized their big kids. And the middle of our lineup was really productive."
Larson also liked what he saw of Bollinger, who came on and threw strikes.
"It was nice to turn the ball over to Ryan Bollinger," the coach said. "That might be his role in the postseason."
Dickinson led 4-3 when Minot's bats began to boom. The Vistas took the lead with a four-run fourth inning rally that included RBI singles by Kory Houston and Ryne Hornecker and a two-run base hit by Teddy Anderson.
Minot tacked on two more in the sixth as Zac Elgie doubled in a run and scored on Anderson's single.
Anderson feasted on the pitching of Dickinson's Jamie Ollila, Dan Berg and Tyler Steffan. He had three hits and a walk, scored once, stole a base and drove home four runs.
Anderson, a smooth-swinging lefty, batted cleanup on Friday and has hit in the middle of the Vista batting order all summer. He said hitting fourth in Minot's explosive attack is a set-up for RBIs.
"It's nice. The top of the lineup is pretty quick. They can call run, so if I do what I'm supposed to, (the RBIs) will come," Anderson said.
Friday's array of hits was a welcome sight to Anderson, who entered the tournament in a slump. "I've been especially cold coming into the tournament," he said. "... You can't overthink things. You just have to go out there and play and pretend it's a backyard game."
Anderson and Bollinger, batting fifth, accounted for six of Minot's 10 hits and combined for five RBIs.
Huettl and Bollinger completely shut down the bottom half of the Dickinson batting order. The Roughriders didn't get a hit from the bottom five spots in their lineup.
The game, plagued by intermittent rain, consumed 3:03. That included a 34-minute first-inning delay due to lightning in the area.
The setback drops Dickinson, 34-22, into the losers' bracket. The Roughriders play Devils Lake, 29-23, in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. today.
Dickinson 002 100 000 - 3 5 2
Minot 201 402 00x - 9 10 3
Jamie Ollila, Dan Berg (3), Tyler Steffan (5) and Alex Koppinger; Jordan Huettl, Ryan Bollinger (7) and Dane Towery. W - Huettl, 7-1. L - Ollila, 1-2. HR - None.
Highlights: D - Ben Herauf 2-for-4, double; Tyler Steffan 2-for-5. M - Teddy Anderson 3-for-4,1 R, 4 RBIs; Bollinger 3-for-4; 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO; Huettl 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 6 SO.
Records: Dickinson 34-22, Minot 42-13.
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