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CITY, N.D (NewsDakota.com) The 5th Annual Pizza Corner Classic took place in Valley City over the weekend at Charlie Brown Field. The host team had a strong showing going all the way to the championship before being defeated 8-4 by Carrington.
Valley City 8 vs Lidgerwood 0
Valley City got the tournament started on a high note taking a 8-0 win in the opening game of pool play on Saturday.
Valley was held scoreless through the first two frames, but in the third and fourth it was a much different story. Led by a 3 for 4 performance at the plate from Nate Rodriguez and 2 for 4 night from Garret Suhr, Valley City would spark an offensive run that Lidgerwood could not keep up with.
On the mound, Dawson Dietrich made sure there was no chance for a comeback pitching six shutout innings, striking out 12 batters, and allowing just three hits.
Valley City 6 vs New Rockford 2
In the second game of the evening, Valley would keep their run going with a 6-2 victory over New Rockford. This time the host team got out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening inning then added a run a piece in the following two frames.
Cole McGough earned the win on the mound going all seven innings allowing just two runs on two hits while whiffing six batters.
At the plate Drew Oberlander led the way for Valley going a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate. Once again, Suhr was hot at the dish finishing the second game 2 for 3.
The perfect record in pool play meant a spot in the championship game against Carrington on Sunday afternoon.
Carrington earned their place in the championship by wining pool A with a 8-0 victory over Jamestown and a 10-1 win over Gwinner.
Unfortunately for Valley, the final game of the weekend would not have the same result as their previous two as they fell to Carrington by a score of 8-4.
Valley City 4 vs Carrington 8
Valley was the first to score putting up a single run in the bottom of the first. That lead would stand strong until the third when Carrington took back the lead with a two spot. Down but not out, the host team would return in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own taking back possession of the lead. However, the Carrington bats spoke loudest at the end of the day with a two run fourth, one run fifth, and three more runs in the final two innings.
Despite the loss, Valley’s offense was strong in the game putting up 10 hits against the Pizza Corner Classic Champs. It was Suhr who once again led the way offensively totaling three hits. Rodriguez, Oberlander and Justin Manson each had a pair of their own.
Rodriguez pitched through six innings for Valley giving up two earned runs, 9 hits, and striking out 9 batters. Riley Miller came on in relief in the final inning allowing one run on just two hits.
Head Coach Lance Lukes said, “We made to many mistakes out there; fielding errors, throwing errors, pitching errors and Carrington being the good team they are took advantage of them.” “The weekend was a good one, going 2-1 over the weekend is always nice. We found things we know we need to work on to become a better team.”
Even with the loss on Sunday, VC remains seven games above .500 at 10-3. They get back to district play Thursday at Steele starting at 4pm.