VALLEY CITY, N.D. (Evin Casey/NewsDakota.com) – The Saints pounded out 13 hits and 8 strong innings by David Whitaker in a 9-3 win over the Mayville Redcaps last night at Charlie Brown Field in the Saints regular season finale.
As with the previous few games, the Saints got on the board early. JT Reed drew a walk and Shaun Kourajian was hit by a pitch to begin the first inning. After a double steal, Jake Miller laced an RBI single to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Nate Rodriguez would round out the scoring in the 1st with an RBI groundout.
A Ross Powell single, Evin Casey sac bunt, Reed single, and Kourajian RBI groundout in the 2nd expanded the lead to 3-0. The Redcaps countered on an RBI single to make it 3-1. The Saints returned the favor with two in the bottom half on a 2-out, 2-RBI single by Brady Engebretson scoring Rodriguez and Will Hlady making the score 5-1. The Redcaps made it 5-3 on a 2-RBI double the next half inning.
The score remained 5-3 until the bottom of the 7th when the Saints pulled away with four runs. Kourajian led off by wearing his second pitch of the game. Miller scored him on a double. Two batters later, Jesse Johnson roped an RBI double. The next batter, Hlady also hit an RBI double. Will Hough rounded the scoring with an RBI single making it 9-3.
Whitaker collected his 7th win of the season with 8 innings only scattering 6 hits and 2 earned runs and four strikeouts. Brady Engebretson struck out the side on one hit in the 9th. Jake Miller led the Saints going 3-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI. Will Hough and Nate Rodriguez each went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
With the win, the Saints not only ended the regular season on a 4-game winning streak and winning six of their last seven games, but also climbed back to the .500 mark with a 10-10-1 record.
Valley City will begin their quest for their second state title in three years at Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown this weekend in the AAA State Tournament. They’ll begin their title run on Friday night at 7:30 PM against the Jamestown Merchants. The Merchants defeated the Saints back on June 7th 8-2 in the 5th place game of the Enderlin Tournament.