As a four-year veteran, Century senior Zach Wentz knew as well as anyone the dragon that needed to be slain.

And slay it he did. Wentz, the Patriots' right-handed pitching ace, fired a four-hit shutout Thursday to down Fargo North 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the state Class A baseball tournament at Mandan Memorial Ballpark.

It was Century's first state tournament win since 1998.

"This is my last state tournament, and I wanted to have the ball and have our fate in my hands," said Wentz, who struck out seven Spartans over the final three innings.

Senior Luke Jesperson took care of all the offense with a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Wentz started the winning rally by grounding a single up the middle, just the second hit off North right-hander Bryant Larson. Larson then walked Hunter Johnson. Nate Schlosser bunted Wentz and Johnson over and North responded by intentionally walking Tate Leapaldt. Jesperson answered with a two-run single to right-center over a drawn-in infield.

That proved to be more than enough for Wentz, who grew stronger as the game progressed. He retired the last eight men he faced and 11 of the final 13. He needed 133 pitches to get the job done, 81 of which were strikes.

Wentz said he felt like he had plenty of gas in the tank in the seventh inning.

"I've thrown quite a few games and was well-rested coming in, so I told coach unless I got wild I wanted to finish it," Wentz said.

Mike Gustavsson, who shares CHS coaching duties with Kent Schweigert, said he had no inclination to pull his horse off the mound. "We were going with 130 (pitches)," Gustavsson said. "It's late in the season and he's in shape. - The sixth inning was his best inning of the night. He was in command of everything he had."

Wentz said his curve was misbehaving early in the game, but in the late innings he had his full repertoire working.

"I had a little better balance between my fastball and curveball late in the ballgame, so they didn't know what was coming," Wentz said.

Century, which has won 10 of its last 11 games, will send Johnson, a junior right-hander to the mound for today's semifinal.

Fargo North 000 000 0 0 4 1

Century 000 200 x 2 3 2

Bryant Larson and Andrew Hoffman; Zach Wentz and Taylor Isakson. W Wentz, 6-0. L Larson, 5-3. HR None.

Highlights: FN John Schmidt 2-for-2; Larson 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO. C Luke Jesperson 1-for-2, 2 RBIs; Wentz 1-for-3, 1 R; 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 14 SO.

Records: FN 20-13, Century 27-7.

Fargo South 8, Minot 5

It was business as usual as Fargo South spotted Minot a 5-0 lead before roaring back to beat the Magicians.

Coach Donn Bryant said that's been his team's style all year.

"I've seen them come back," Bryant said after the Bruins earned a berth in tonight's semifinals. "The fact is they stay on each other, and they know what's going to happen at some point. I wasn't really worried."

But Bryant had cause to worry after Minot starter Ryan Bollinger cruised into the fifth inning with a 5-0 lead. Bollinger allowed only two singles in four innings.

His teammates provided him a nice cushion, banging out five hits against Max Rusch, who eventually weathered that storm to pick up the win.

The Magicians scored two unearned runs in the third on Zac Elgie's two-out, two-run home run. They added two more runs in the fourth on Josh Oothoudt's two-out, two-run single to left. Minot picked up its final run on a two-out error on first-baseman Adam Erickson.

"That whole time we just weren't putting the ball in play," Bruins right-fielder Tony Gross said. "We knew if we did that, things would happen."

Things started happening for South in the fifth inning.

Aaron Hall doubled in a run, and Gross singled in another. Erickson drew a bases loaded walk and the Bruins batted around, scoring three times to chase Bollinger.

"When we chased Bollinger, we felt we would start hitting," Bryant said.

Reliever Ryne Hornecker fared no better in the sixth. The Bruins scored five times and batted around again. Hornecker was forced out and replaced by Elgie, but Hornecker gave up four runs to take the loss.

Minot 002 210 0 - 5 5 2

Fargo South 000 035 x - 8 8 2

Ryan Bollinger, Ryne Hornecker (5), Zac Elgie (6) and Dane Towery. Max Rusch and Matt Beneke. W-Rusch; L-Hornecker. HR: Minot, Elgie.

Highlights: Minot - Elgie 2-4, homer, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Derek Somerville 2-3; Josh Oothoudt 2 runs. Fargo South - Tony Gross 2-4, 2 RBIs; Spencer Wolf 2 runs; Brian Matthews 2-2, 2 runs; Aaron Hall 1-3, 2 runs; Adam Erickson 2 RBIs; Rusch 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 SO, 2 BB.

Records: Minot 22-10, Fargo South 23-5