VALLEY CITY, ND (newsdakota.com) – On a chilly May evening at Charlie Brown Memorial Field, nothing could stop Chase Feller and Jake Miller from staying hot. Feller’s 10 strikeouts in five innings of one-hit ball in addition to a 2-for-4 day at the plate along with Miller going 3-for-3 and a home run short of a cycle, the Saints improved to 2-0 with a 7-4 victory over a young, but scrappy Hawley Hawks squad.
After Feller weaseled his way out of a 1st inning jam unscathed, Feller and Miller would start up the Saints offense in the bottom of the 1st with back-to-back doubles to give the Saints a 1-0 lead off Hawks starter Nate Leitner. With one out and A.J. Casario at-bat, Miller moved over to 3rd on a wild pitch. A few pitches later, Casario struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt and began to run to 1st base. Miller broke for home when the catcher threw the ball to first without looking Miller back, scoring with ease. The Saints then would make it 3-0.
The Saints would try to increase their lead in each of the next two innings, but the Saints stranded a runner on third in the 2nd and despite Miller’s triple to lead off the 3rd, the Saints couldn’t bring him around to score. After Mason Klevgaard replaced Leitner on the mound for Hawley to begin the 4th inning, the Saints bats would go cold as they couldn’t figure out his weird sidearm delivery.
The Hawks would make their first serious push since the 1st inning off Feller after Mason Klevgaard led off with a walk then put himself in scoring position by stealing second. Harrison Nord then struck out on a 1-2 pitch from Feller in the dirt. Instead of throwing to first to complete the strike out, Saints catcher Andrew Schaan made a smart play and threw Klevgaard out advancing to 3rd. Feller then picked Nord off at first base and got out of the inning with no further damage.
Hawley would threaten again in the 6th inning, this time off Saints reliever Brady Engebretson. But after a single, fielder’s choice, and two walks loaded the bases with one out, Engebretson battled through and struck out Matt Samuelson and Leitner and left the bases loaded full of Hawks.
Hawley would finally break through in the 8th inning off reliever Evin Casey. Back-to-back one out singles by Samuelson and Leitner would put two runners on. After Casey struck out Carley swinging, Mason Klevgaard singled to right field, scoring Samuelson as Klevgaard moved over to second on a throwing error by the right fielder. But with the tying run in scoring position, Casey shut the door and struck Nord out looking to end the Hawks threat.
Finally the Saints found a way to get to Klevgaard in the bottom of the 8th. Miller would collect his 3rd hit of the game to lead off the inning. After a popout, Casario singled to put two runners on. Cal Fougner then walked to load the bases. Then with Jesse Johnson at the plate, the Saints would score their first run since the 1st inning as Miller scored on a wild pitch. Johnson was hit later in the at-bat, which was the end of Klevgaard’s night.
The Saints would keep tacking on more runs off Klevgaard’s replacement, Alec Gulseth. Reed Butz, who pinch ran for Casario, scored on a passed ball making it 5-1. Later in the at-bat, Seth Soderholm made it 7-1 as he poked a two-run single on a drawn-in infield scoring both Fougner and Johnson with all three of those runs being charged to Klevgaard.
The pesky Hawks though would not quit as they entered their last at-bats. Casario relieved Casey in the 9th and did not find the strike zone as he walked Gulseth, Gavin Klevgaard, and Trayton Cossette on 12 straight pitches to load the bases. Reed Butz came in to relieve Casario, but a passed ball to the first batter allowed Gulseth to score making it 7-2. A two-out two-run single by Cade Carley cut the Saints lead to 7-4, but that is all they would muster as Butz struck Mason Klevgaard out looking to end the game.
Feller and Miller were not the only offensive standouts for the Saints as Fougner joined in the fun by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. The trio collected seven of the nine Saints hits. Miller also scored twice for the Saints. The Hawks were led offensively by Leitner, who went 2-for-4.
Even though the Saints pitching staff walked 8 batters and hit one, they also struck out 18 Hawks in route to the victory. Alongside Feller’s 10 K’s, Engebretson added 5 in his 2 innings of work. Casey and Butz each pitched an inning striking out two and one batters respectively. Leitner took the loss for the Hawks going 3 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits. Klevgaard went 4.1 innings in relief striking out seven.
The Saints improve to 2-0 on the season and will be in action on Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend as they travel to Jamestown for the Jack Brown Invitational. Valley City will play at 5 PM against the East Grand Forks Mass and at 7 PM against the Jamestown Elks, who are the two-time defending North Dakota Class AAA amateur baseball champions. Monday’s game will either be at 11 AM, 1 PM, or 3 PM depending on the result of Sunday’s games.