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N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—-Kyle Leapaldt pitched 6 scoreless innings & Payton Smith went 4-4 to help lead Carrington over Bishop Ryan in the opening round of the 2017 state class B baseball tournament. Leapaldt allowed just 3 hits, striking out 2 Lion batters. The Cards turned in some great defensive plays from Braxton Hewitt, Smith, & also picked off a runner in the fifth inning that took away Bishop Ryan’s potential big inning. Chris Sowitch singled & Cole Dauphinais doubled to start the fifth inning, but Dauphinais was picked off at second for the first out of the inning. Two quick fly outs ended the inning & Carrington blew the game wide open in the bottom of the 6th with 5 runs, building an 8-0 lead.

Smith scored 2 runs and added 2 stolen bases. Jayden Rosenau went 3-4 with 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Hewitt went 2-4, 2 RBI, and scored a run. Leapaldt went 2-4 with an RBI and Lucas Geiszler also went 2-4 with a run scored. Trey Rosenau added an RBI with a 2-4 day at the plate. Carrington finished the day with a 15 hit attack and an error free game defensively will send them into the state semifinal (rematch with Thompson).

The Lions were led by Eli Stewart’s 2-4 with an RBI. Stewart took the loss on the mound, allowing 8 runs (4 earned), struck out 9 Cardinal batters, hit 1 batter, and allowed just 1 walk. The Lions committed 4 errors defensively.

Carrington improves to 18-6 overall and Bishop Ryan drop to 25-5. Carrington will play defending state champion Thompson in the semifinals starting around 6:30 at Jack Brown Stadium. Pregame will start at 6:15 on AM 1600  KDAK & newsdakota.com. Thompson defeated Carrington last year in the semifinals and 3 of the 4 teams (Park River-FL, Carrington, Thompson) are in the semi’s again this year. Kindred-Richland is the 4th team this year, representing Region 1, last year Region 1 champion Northern Cass was also in the semi’s. The top 4 seeded teams all advanced into the semifinal round. Top seeded Thompson defeated Rugby 7-2, number 2 seed Kindred-R defeated Shiloh Christian 5-1, number 3 Park River-FL defeated MLS-G-K-B 5-2, along with the Cardinal’s (4 seed) defeating 5 seed Bishop Ryan.