Without several key players for the first game of the tournament, the Saints could not overcome four 1st inning runs and 15 strikeouts by Enderlin starter Kalton Agnes as the Indies defeated the Saints 6-2.

The Indies began the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Saints starter Phil Almanza plunked Mac Bierman with the bases loaded scoring Nick Eggmann. Two more runs would score when the next batter Derek Lyons hit a grounder to Jake Miller and Miller sailed the throw to second into the outfield. Bierman would score later in the inning on a fielder’s choice by Zach Michaelson.

The Saints would rebound in the 4th inning by cutting the Indies in half. Miller would open the inning and redeeming himself by taking Agnes’ first pitch over the center-field wall and off the light tower. After three consecutive two-out walks by Agnes, Grady Karges would score on a wild pitch, which was Agnes’ third of the inning.

The Indies then would put the game on ice in the bottom of the 6th as they chased Almanza out of the game. Preston Myers then came in relief for the Saints and gave up a Travis Midthun single, an RBI-double by Jorun Hamre, and a sac-fly by Brennan Neva before ending the inning on a strikeout.

The Saints could only manage three hits off of Agnes as along with Miller, Jesse Johnson, and Reed Butz had the only other hits. Almanza took the loss on the mound for the Saints as he went 5.1 innings giving up five runs (three earned) on six hits, walking two, and striking out six. Valley City also committed four errors on defense.

The Indies offense was led by Midthun and Hamre, who each had 3 hits apiece.

The Saints would play their most complete game of the season thus far as they rebounded from their defeat the night before to handle the Beulah Blackjaws 8-1. All nine starters had at least one hit while Evin Casey and Matt Suda combined to shut down the Blackjaw offense.

Grady Karges would begin the Saints scoring in the top of the 2nd with an RBI single that scored Cal Fougner. The Saints would tack on another in the 3rd with a Seth Soderholm single scoring Jake Miller and two more in the 4th on Jesse Johnson’s RBI single that scored Suda with Karges scoring from first on an error by the left fielder.

The only blemish that came from the pitching staff on the day was in the bottom of the 4th as Connor Aanderud (who played for Beulah as they only had eight players) found a hole in the drawn-in infield for an RBI single off the starter Casey.

Reed Butz would continue the scoring in the 5th for the Saints as Butz hit his first career home run at any level with a two-run shot making it 6-1 Saints. Valley City would cap off the scoring with two more in the 7th on an RBI groundout by Soderholm and an RBI single by Butz.

A.J. Casario led the 14-hit Saints attack going 3-for-4 with a double. Miller, Butz, and Karges would each have two hits with Butz recording 3 RBI. Miller, Fougner, and Soderholm each had a double. Evin Casey took the win on the mound for the Saints giving up only one run on three hits in four-plus innings of work. Suda would get the final nine outs of the game for his first save of the season as he struck out seven Blackjaw batters.

For the second time in six days, Valley City and Tolna would be meeting in the 3rd place game of a tournament. Unlike the first meeting, the Saints would defeat the Trojans by a 9-4 score in the rematch led by a big day from A.J. Casario who homered twice and drove in five.

Unlike the previous matchup where Tolna jumped out to an 8-0 lead, this matchup appeared from the start to be a pitcher’s duel between Valley City’s Jesse Johnson and Tolna’s Jayden Grover as it was scoreless through the first three innings.

Valley City would strike first in the top of the fourth when Casario would hit the first of his two bombs, a two-run homer to left-center. Tolna would strike back though in their half of the fourth as Grover helped his own cause with a double cutting the Saints lead in half. Then Hunter Sand would give Tolna a 4-2 lead with a 3-run homer off the light tower in left-center field.

The Saints would then explode in their half of the 5th inning with a seven spot. After the first two men in the inning got out, Connor Aanderud and Gage Wherley drew back-to-back walks, then Grady Karges would launch a 2-run triple into the left-field corner to tie the game at 4. After a Matt Suda walk and stolen base, Chase Feller then launched a line drive that got stuck in the ivy for a ground-rule double giving the Saints a 6-4 lead. After Jake Miller walked, Casario hit a fly ball to center that seemed to be routine, but the center fielder ran out of room and Casario had his second homer of the game, making the score 9-4. When it was all set and done, eleven men stepped up to the plate in the 5th for Valley City.

Other than Casario’s big day at the plate for Valley City, Feller also had two hits and two RBI of his own and pitched the final three innings to notch his first save of the season. Johnson would get the win for the Saints giving up four runs (none of which were earned) on five hits and no walks while striking out five.

The Valley City Saints improve to 5-3 on the season and will be in action on Saturday and possibly Sunday. On Saturday, the Saints return to Charlie Brown Field for a matinee against the Moorhead Mudcats with the first pitch being at 1:00 PM. On Sunday, the Saints are scheduled to play on the road against the East Grand Forks Mass at 3:00 PM but there is a possibility this might be rescheduled. Stay tuned to the Valley City Saints Facebook and Twitter pages for all Saints updates, including information on Sunday’s game.