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CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Emmanuel Leyva delivered the game-winning hit in the top of the eighth inning Saturday as Valley City State defeated Mayville State 4-3 in the winner’s bracket of the NSAA Baseball Tournament.
Tied at 3-3, Leyva’s sharp single to center field scored Nate Bagby to cap a two-run inning and give the Vikings a 4-3 lead. Viking relief pitcher Max Koprek and Steven Velarde combined to shut down Mayville State over the next two innings to seal the victory.
No. 3 seed Valley City State improves to 27-24 overall and advances to the Bracket B championship game on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Valley City. The Vikings would need to be beaten twice in the Bracket B championship. No. 2 seed Mayville State drops to 42-10 and will face Waldorf University in a loser-out game at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game would play VCSU in the Bracket B championship on Sunday.
Mayville State outhit VCSU 11-6 in the game, but the Vikings took advantage of five Comet errors to score three unearned runs.
Valley City State opened the scoring with a run in the top of the third inning. Joe Demers drew a two-out walk and then came in to score on Brady Anderson’s RBI double to left-center.
Mayville answered quickly with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Nathan Walsh started the rally with a one-out double. J.Q. Folena drew a walk and then Brady Nygaard and Dondrei Hubbard had back-to-back RBI singles. Hubbard’s hit to right field went all the way to the fence after an error by Tyler Ukestad, allowing Nygaard to score all the way from first for a 3-1 lead.
The Comets threatened again in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two singles and a hit batter, but Viking pitcher Andrew Frank worked out of the jam by striking out Brady Nygaard to end the inning.
VCSU got one run back in the top of the sixth inning, taking advantage of a two-out throwing error to extend the inning. With runners on first and third, Zach Mahoney was then called for a balk which scored pinch runner Mitch Scheer and cut the Comet lead to 3-2.
The Vikings completed the comeback with two runs in the top of the eighth inning. Brady Anderson and Nate Bagby both singled to put two runners on with one out. Mahoney struck out Anthony Necochea for the second out, but Anderson came in to score and tie the game when third baseman JQ Folena bobbled Grant Wehseler’s grounder. Leyva followed with the game-winning hit, a sharp RBI single to center field that scored Bagby for a 4-3 lead.
Max Koprek picked up the win for VCSU after pitching scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Steven Velarde earned the save after pitching a scoreless ninth. Andrew Frank started for VCSU and went six innings, scattering nine hits and allowed three runs – two of which were earned. Frank walked one and struck out four.
Anderson went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI to lead VCSU’s offense. Leyva added a hit and RBI, and Bagby and Ben Bruenjes each had a hit.
Mahoney took the loss for the Comets after pitching eight innings. He gave up six hits and four runs, but only one run was earned. He walked one and struck out eight. Drake Yoshioka went 3-for-5 for the Comet offense and both Brady Nygaard and Dondrei Hubbard had a hit and RBI.
Up next: No. 3 seed Valley City State improves to 27-24 overall and advances to the Bracket B championship game on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Valley City. The Vikings would need to be beaten twice in the Bracket B championship. No. 2 seed Mayville State drops to 42-10 and will face Waldorf University in a loser-out game at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game would play VCSU in the Bracket B championship on Sunday.
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