He may be the youngster of the team, but Zach Wentz came through like a veteran in his Bismarck Governors debut on Thursday night.

The 16-year-old shortstop singled in the game-winning run with two out in the bottom half of the seventh inning to give the Governors a 2-1 win over the Grand Forks Royals at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark on the first day of the annual East-West American Legion Baseball Classic.

Wentz, who played on a 15-year-old Babe Ruth team last summer, slapped at an David Spies delivery and dropped it on the edge of the outfield grass behind first base to bring in Matt Kranzler from second base. It was his second hit of the game and the third time he reached base in four at-bats.

"(Spies) gave me a low fastball and I just tried to reach out and shoot it to right," Wentz said. "Lucky for us it dropped in. It was pretty exciting. It was definitely a nice way to start with the Governors."

Wentz is coming off an outstanding high school season in which he batted .440 with three home runs for the Century Patriots. It was more than enough to impress Governors coach Mike Skytland.

"Normally, our 16-year-olds would play for the Reps or the Senators, but Zach's high school season showed everybody that he is ready to play at this level," Skytland said. "He works hard and he has the physical skills. We expect a lot of good things from him in the years to come."

Back-to-back one-out singles by Cody Erhardt and Kranzler set the stage for Wentz. Kranzler's single sent Erhardt to third, but Erhardt was thrown out at home after Tim Jallen hit a grounder to third. Later, Kranzler took off running as soon as the ball hit Wentz's bat and scored easily to put Bismarck in the win column.

The Governors also got a clutch hit in the bottom of the sixth, when Torey Bohan delivered a two-out RBI single that tied the game at 1-1.

The comeback made a winner out of Brandon Solemaas, who scattered seven hits and walked four in a complete-game effort. It was a chore for the right-hander, however. The Royals had a baserunner in every inning and no less than two in the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh. Solemsaas, who threw 106 pitches, walked the bases full in the top of the seventh, but got Eric Melland to ground out to third to end the inning.

"It came down to Brandon making good pitches when he needed to," Skytland said. "Give him credit. He never once got rattled out there. He challenged the hitters and worked through it."

Solemsaas got lots of help from his defense, which turned double plays to end the third, fourth and sixth innings.

"The defense was awesome tonight," Solemsaas said. "I'm not a big strikeout pitcher. … I really rely on the defense to make the plays."

In other games on Thursday, Grand Forks outlasted Mandan 5-3 at Memorial Ballpark, and Jamestown swept past Devils Lake 11-0 in five innings at Municipal Ballpark.

Grand Forks built a 5-0 lead against the Chiefs, scoring a run in the top of the second, two in the third and two more in the fifth. Mandan closed to within two on Ryne Jungling's three-run double in the bottom of the sixth and had runners on first and second with nobody out in the seventh. However, Mike Quast lined into a double play at first and Steve Pleten grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

The Royals pounded out 15 hits in the game, with Dan Kary and Kreis leading the way with three apiece. Spies doubled twice and drove in two runs and Sadler and Steven Kraft each added a pair of hits. Grand Forks starter Sean Potter went the distance, allowing five hits. Mark Frenzel had two hits for the Chiefs.

Earlier at Municipal Ballpark, Andrew Davidson allowed one hit in five innings and went 2-for-3 with three runs scored to spark Jamestown's effort. Josh Green singled with one out in the second for Devils Lake's only hit.

Bismarck 2, Grand Forks 1

Royals 000 010 0 - 1 7 1

Governors 000 001 1 - 2 10 1

David Spies and Andy Sadler. Brandon Solemsaas and Torey Bohan. W - Solemsaas. L - Spies. HR - None.

Highlights: GF - Spies 1-for-3, 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 10 H, 4 SO. Alex Kreis 2-for-3, R. Jeff Bakke 1-for-3, RBI. Bismarck - Solemsaas 7 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, SO. Zach Wentz 2-for-4, RBI. Cody Erhardt 2-for-4. Matt Kranzler 2-for-4, R. Tim Jallen 1-for-4, R. Torey Bohan 1-for-3, RBI. Justin Connell 1-for-3. Daniel Eichele 1-for-3.

Grand Forks 5, Mandan 3

Royals 012 020 0 - 5 15 1

Chiefs 000 003 0 - 3 5 1

Sean Potter and Andy Sadler. Brian Borr and Ryne Jungling. W - Potter. L - Borr. HR - None.

Highlights: GF - Dan Kary 3-for-3, 2B, RBI. Alex Kreis 3-for-3, RBI. David Spies 2-for-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBIs. Sadler 2-for-4, 2B, R. Steven Kraft 2-for-3, R. Sean Potter 7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 SO. Mandan - Mark Frenzel 2-for-3. Jungling 1-for-3, 2B, 3 RBIs. Brandon Coyle 1-for-1. Jared Quast 1-for-3.

Jamestown 11, Devils Lake 0, 5 innings

Devils Lake 000 00 - 0 1 3

Jamestown 141 5x - 11 9 1

Jason Buidel, Dustin Favedale (4) and Britton Lage. Andrew Davidson and Andrew Klose. W - Davidson. L - Buidel. HR - None.

Highlights: Devils Lake - Josh Green 1-for-3. Jamestown - Davidson 2-for-3, 3 R, 5 IP, H, 5 BB, 6 SO. Klose 2-for-3, R.

EAST-West Classic

Friday

Dickinson vs. Grand Forks (Municipal Ballpark), 11 a.m. Minot vs. Fargo (Memorial Ballpark), 11 a.m. Fargo vs. Dickinson (Municipal Ballpark), 1:30 p.m. Devils Lake vs. Wahpeton (Memorial Ballpark), 1:30 p.m. Grand Forks vs. Minot (Haaland Field), 1:30 p.m. Jamestown vs. Bismarck (Municipal Ballpark), 4 p.m. West Fargo at Mandan (Memorial Ballpark), 4 p.m. West Fargo vs. Bismarck (Municipal Ballpark), 6:30 p.m. Jamestown vs. Mandan (Memorial Ballpark), 6:30 p.m.