JAMESTOWN, N.D. (Evin Casey/NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Saints opened pool play at the Class AAA State Amateur Baseball Tournament Friday night against the Jamestown Merchants at Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown.
The Saints got off to a good with runs in the bottom of the first and second and led 2-0 after five innings with David Whitaker on the mound in control.
Unfortunately the wheels fell off as the Merchants took the lead with 3 in the 6th and 3 more in the 7th as the Saints fell in their opening game 6-2.
The Saints continued their recent trend and got on the board early in the bottom of the first off Merchant starter Greg Lunski. A one-out Chase Feller walk and a wild pitch moved him over to 2nd then Davey Demeter lined a RBI double to right-center for a 1-0. The Saints would tack onto their lead in the 2nd on a Will Hough RBI double scoring Seth Soderholm.
The Merchants threatened in the 3rd with singles by Daren Purdy and Carlos Turpo to start the inning. But a diving catch by Chase Feller with one out off the bat of Bryan Erstad and an odd 9-3-1-6 double play in the 3rd ended that threat.
The game remained 2-0 through 5 when the Merchants finally solved Whitaker. A Preston Jensen single, then a missile off the bat of Erstad hit Whitaker who could only get the out at 1st. Josh McMenamy cut the Saints lead in half with an RBI single scoring Jensen. Brandon Baumgartner tied it two batters later on an RBI single of his own. Beau Brunsvold gave the Merchants the lead for good later in the inning on a sac fly scoring Andrew Hill.
The Merchants iced the game in the 7th on an Andrew Hill 3-run homer off reliever Phil Almanza.
The Saints were led by Davey Demeter with two doubles and an rbi. Will Hough had a double and an rbi for the Saints. Seth Soderholm and Jesse Johnson had the other hits for Valley City.
Andrew Hill led the Merchants with two hits, including a three-run homer in the seven. Greg Lunski scattered five hits over seven innings for the complete game win. He walked two and fanned six.
The Saints fall to 10-11-1 and now have their backs against the wall as they turn around and head back to Jamestown at noon for their second game of the tournament against the Jamestown Hounds. A win keeps the Saints season alive and will need help from the Hounds against the Merchants later that afternoon. A loss will end the Saints season.