WAHPETON, N.D. – A lot is going Wahpeton’s way at the North Dakota Class 1A American Legion baseball state tournament.
Wahpeton is getting solid outings from its starters and the middle of its batting order has been producing. Add everything up and it has put the veteran group in a nice position to potentially advance to a regional tournament next week.
Wahpeton defeated Valley City 10-0 at John Randall Field on Friday behind a complete-game effort from starter Clay Bassingthwaite.
Bassingthwaite only allowed three Valley City batters to reach base to earn a shutout.
“There was a little pressure to do well on the mound,” Bassingthwaite said. “Our first two starters of this tournament (Brock Lingen and Nate Albrecht) pitched really well so I did what I could. I threw strikes and got ahead of batters.”
All three of Wahpeton’s starters have gone the distance in the three games played at the tournament. Collectively, the group has pitched 17 scoreless innings and given up just one run.
Wahpeton’s bats have been clicking, too.
Albrecht, who celebrated his 18th birthday Friday, led the way at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs and a run scored.
Cleanup hitter Kameron McNary was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while No. 3 hitter Tyler Gripentrog was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.
“Those are the veteran guys on this team and we need those guys to produce,” Wahpeton head coach Chris Kappes said. “This is the biggest stage and they are making things happen.”
Wahpeton plays Beulah at 5 p.m. today.
“We are all seeing the ball well,” Albrecht said. “Every one of our hitters has been coming to the field early every day to get some cuts in.”
Jacob Miller and Ben Baasch connected for Valley City’s two hits in the game. Valley City plays Velva at 2 p.m. today in an elimination game.
“We have to get back to the mentality we had in the first two games,” Valley City head coach Kyle Roelfsema said. “We have to have faith in our game and that we can bounce back. Wahpeton is a good team and they hit the ball really well against us.”
VC 000 00–0 2 0
W 304 3x–10 10 0
Carpenter, Berg (4) and Miller. Bassingthwaite and Edwardson. W–Bassingthwaite. L–Carpenter.
Loser-out games
Beulah 4, Casselton 1
Evan Mellmer was 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs to help Beulah to a 4-1 victory over Casselton in an elimination game Friday.
Beulah plays Wahpeton at 5 p.m. today at John Randall Field.
Nathan Volk was 2-for-3 with a double to lead Casselton.
Beulah starting pitcher Cole Messerschmidt picked up the complete-game victory, giving up one run on six hits.
C 000 000 1–1 6 1
B 013 000 x–4 5 1
Holm, Cote (4) and Roesler. Messerschmidt and Mellmer. W–Messerschmidt. L–Holm. HR–Mellmer.
Velva 15, Watford City 2
Eli Luna was 3-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored to help Velva to a 15-2 win over Watford City in an elimination game on Friday.
Velva plays Valley City at 2 p.m. today.
David Kline was 3-for-4 and drove in both of Watford City’s runs.
V 404 124 0–15 16 3
WF 101 000 0–2 6 1
D. Effertz and Mack. Liebel, Sampsel (5), Allex (7) and Cook, Liebel (5). W–D. Effertz. L–Liebel.
