After a scoreless 1st inning, A.J. Casario led off the 2nd with a walk. After a popout, Andrew Schaan walked as well. Seth Soderholm then singled to drive in Casario to put the Saints on the board. After a Ross Powell single loaded the bases and a Will Hough strikeout, Reynolds launched his grand slam over the left field fence to give the Saints a 5-0 lead.
The Saints weren’t done scoring quite yet as they added two more runs in the 3rd inning on a 2-RBI single by Soderholm making it 7-0. Valley City wasn’t satisfied there as in the 4th they added two more runs aided by a couple of Mets errors. Chase Feller scored when Reed Butz reached 1st on a fielding error by the second baseman. Hough added an RBI single of his own to make it 9-0 Valley City after 4 innings.
As it looked like Valley City would put it on cruise control after that, the Mets and some sloppy defense would say otherwise. The Mets would trim the lead to 9-2 in the 5th on a throwing error and a wild pitch. The Mets would cut the lead to 9-4 in the 6th on a bad throw on a stolen base attempt and an RBI single.
Even though the Saints bats were subdued the rest of the way and despite the Mets adding two more runs in the 8th inning to cut the lead to 9-6, the Saints would hold on in the 9th to begin the season on a high note.
Nine different Saints collected at least one hit with Soderholm leading the way going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. Reynolds was 1-for-4 with 4 RBI and Feller added a double and a stolen base for the Saints. Hough and Butz each had an RBI as well.
The Saints pitched by committee with six different pitchers taking the bump in the game. Feller started for the Saints, pitching two shutout innings, walking two and striking out four. Nate Rodriguez, Matt Suda, Aaron Schuster, Evin Casey, and Casario all saw action on the mound with Casario pitching the 9th to collect the save.
Tom Paulson, who was born and raised in Valley City took the loss for the Mets going 3 innings while giving up 7 earned runs on 7 hits, walking two, and striking out five. Brady Meyer led the Mets offense going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. Saints player Cal Fougner, who caught for the Mets this game, went 1-for-2 with 3 walks.
The next action for the Saints (1-0) will be next Sunday, May 23rd when the Ada Athletics come to Charlie Brown Field for a 9 inning game starting at 3:00 PM. The game will be streamed live on the Valley City Saints Facebook page. The Mets fall to 1-1 and will open up Fargo League action this Wednesday against the Jamestown Merchants.