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FARGO — When hits have been hard to come by all game, getting a stellar outing from the guys on the mound and playing flawless situational baseball, helps.
Fargo Post 2 cruised by the West Fargo Patriots 5-0, with five pitchers combining for the shutout, in a nine inning non-conference game on Thursday at Jack Williams Stadium.
Luke Rustad, the Post 2 head coach, admitted his team’s bats could have been better, but was pleased with the performance.
“We did a good job of getting a lot of different pitchers in to get their work,” said Rustad. “I thought our defense was pretty solid. I would have liked to see us find a few more barrels with our bats, but I thought we got the hits when we needed them.”
Rustad said that coming off “The Pete” tournament and a holiday weekend. He wanted to implement a lot of guys into the game rather than just having them throw in the bullpen. Rustad said it was a solid outing but that there’s always room for improvement.
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“I’m glad that they all pretty much threw strikes when they went out there,” said Rustad. “There’s a few things that we could clean up from some of our pitchers, but overall it was really good.”
Post 2 got the first pair of runs across the plate after some sloppy defense from the Patriots in the fourth inning. Fargo got back-to-back walks early in the inning and a uniform malfunction caused an error that allowed one run in and a passed ball added another.
“I don’t think we swung at a lot of bad pitches outside of the zone,” said Rustad. “When they weren’t around the plate, we did a good job of laying off and taking what they were giving us.”
Connor Holm’s performance led Post 2 offensively going 2 for 3 with a two-run single in the sixth inning and a pair of walks. Holm said his team has been seeing the ball really well all season and everyone in the lineup is trying to set up the guy on deck.
“We just try to get on base anyway we can and create opportunities for the people in the line up behind us.” said Holm.
Charlie Kalbrener doubled to right center and later scored on a passed ball. Danny Boutain also singled in the inning, extending Post 2’s lead to 5-0. Both Kalbrener and Boutain were 2 for 3 with a pair of walks.
Besides the dominant pitching, the team also performed masterfully in other areas of the game including working the counts, defensive play, and being aggressive on the base paths.
“We’ve been seeing the ball well all season and try to put it in play and get hits,” said Holm. “It’s huge when you have a team that goes out there and throws strikes and when you have a good defense behind them it really helps.”
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West Fargo head coach, Jordan Rheault, said his team played well on the defensive side of the ball, but struggled at the plate.
“We just didn’t swing it,” said Reheault. “I liked how we competed on the defensive side, whether it was pitching or fielding. It’s a long process. The season is long, just get a little bit better each and every day.”
