Deacons fall short

JAMESTOWN, N.D. - The young Dickinson Midgets made an impressive debut at the state tournament.

Behind a masterful pitching performance by sophomore Kyle Schroeder and a solo home run from eighth-grader Cole Frenzel, the defending state champions defeated Fargo Shanley 1-0 in the opening game of the North Dakota Class A state baseball tournament Thursday at Jack Brown Stadium.

Meanwhile, West Region champion Minot advanced to the semifinals. But not without a battle from West Fargo.

The Packers scored first and put together a late rally in the seventh before falling 7-4.

Schroeder outdueled Deacons starter Nick Tweiten in the opener.

"It was a very good performance," Midgets coach Pete Dobitz said. "He seemed to get better as the game went on. He was getting it up in the zone a little bit early on and they were hitting him pretty good. But he just kept getting stronger."

Schroeder limited the Deacons (22-15) to five hits, walking one and striking out five.

"My stuff was really great today," Schroeder said. "My arm felt good. I just let my defense do its work. That's how I like it."

Tweiten kept Dickinson (18-16) in check most of the day as well. The Deacons right-hander matched Schroeder zero for zero on the scoreboard until the sixth inning.

Frenzel launched the first pitch from Tweiten over the ivy-covered right-field wall for a one-out solo homer.

It was the seventh homer of the season for Frenzel, who came into the tournament batting .414 with 32 RBIs.

"He's done a good job all year," Dobitz said. "The great thing is he's learning to hit the ball the other way. He's not just a pull hitter. He's learning to hit as an eighth-grader."

Frenzel went 2-for-2 with a walk.

It was a tough loss for Tweiten, who allowed only five hits, struck out eight, walked two and hit a batter.

Dickinson 000 001 0- 1 5 0

Shanley 000 000 0- 0 5 0

Schroeder and Swalling; Tweiten and Shannon. W-Schroeder. L-Tweiten. HR-Dickinson, Frenzel (7).

Dustin Gregory and Travis Holmes had back-to-back doubles in the first inning to give the East's No. 4 seed an early lead.

However, a five-run second inning got things rolling for the Magicians (35-2).

"We tried jumping out on them early," Minot coach Pete Stenberg said. "We used small ball early in the game and they weren't able to field a couple of bunts and that worked to our advantage."

Andy Carver started the second with a single to right.

Back-to-back bunt singles by Justin Frye and Eli Mihalick fueled the Magicians' big inning.

Tyler Lundy's two-run double was the big hit, and Minot took advantage of one of three West Fargo errors to add three unearned runs.

In the third, Ryne Hornecker added an RBI double and another Packers error led to another run as Minot grabbed a 7-1 lead.

The Magicians appeared to be cruising to their 35th win in 37 games before they ran into trouble in the seventh.

West Fargo (15-15) rallied for three runs on one hit, taking advantage of some wildness as the Magicians needed three pitchers to finish off the win.

West Fargo 100 000 3- 4 7 3

Minot 052 000 x- 7 10 1

Heitkamp and Holmes. Houston, Gathman (2), Amon (7), Lundy (7) and Frye. W-Gathman. L-Heitkamp. S-Lundy.

Throlson is the sports editor for the Jamestown Sun, a Forum Communications newspaper