David Ernst made sure his Fargo South teammates got plenty of rest before next week's trip to the Class A state baseball tournament.
The junior starter gave his fielders a day off by retiring all 15 batters he faced during the Bruins'
12-0 win over Devils Lake in the title game of the Eastern Dakota Conference tournament on Saturday in West Fargo.
It was the third consecutive EDC tournament title for South.
"When he has all of his pitches working, he's tough to beat," South head coach Donn Bryant said.
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In fact, it wasn't until the third inning that a player other than Ernst even had to field a ball.
Ernst retired the first batter on a 1-3 putout and proceeded to fan the next seven Firebirds he faced.
"I was hitting my spots with all of my pitches," said Ernst, who struck out 11. "It felt like I could do whatever I wanted out there."
South got all the offense it needed in the first inning by exploding with eight runs on four hits.
Tyler Kellen drove in a run with a base hit to give the Bruins a 5-0 lead with no outs in the inning.
The Firebirds loss ended the team's string of tournament upsets. Devils Lake made it to the title game by upending No. 2 seed West Fargo on Thursday and upsetting third-seeded Grand Forks Red River on Friday.
Kellen drilled a three-run home run into left field in the fourth inning to give South its final margin of victory.
Eight Bruins collected at least one hit in the game.
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South is looking to reverse its luck in the state tournament after being on the wrong end of 1-0 decisions in the last two title games.
"It means a lot but we have a bigger goal," Bryant said. "Our goal is to win the state championship."
South will face Williston in the first round of the state baseball tournament on Thursday in Mandan.
Devils Lake 000 00 - 0 0 4
South 801 3x -12 11 0
Jar. Swenseth, Senger (2) and Erickson. Ernst and Kellen. W-Ernst. L-Jar. Swenseth. HR-FS, Kellen.
All-EDC team
Devils Lake: Josh Janzen, Cole Boehmer.
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Fargo North: Matt Fiechtner.
Fargo Shanley: Mike Jones.
Fargo South: Matt Achter, David Ernst, Matt Wawers, Seth Hochstatter, Tyler Kellen.
Grand Forks Central: Brady Johnson, David Nelson, Casey Purpur.
Grand Forks Red River: Ryne Anderson, Taylor Steen.
Wahpeton: Jeremy Bontjes.
West Fargo: Matt Strahm, Spencer Flaten, Tanner Dahl.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Andrew Gottenborg at (701) 241-5549
