VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Coming off their tournament championship in Enderlin the previous weekend, the Valley City Saints baseball team returned to action on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the West Fargo Crows 7-2 behind Nate Rodriguez’s complete game 15 strikeout performance.
The Saints would get the offense going early as they took advantage of command issues by the West Fargo starter as he walked the bases loaded. Jesse Johnson would make sure the walks would kill the Crows as he laced a bases clearing double down the 3rd base line giving the Saints a 3-0 lead after one.
The Crows would score single runs in the 2nd and 3rd off Rodriguez to cut the Saints lead to 3-2. The Crows threatened again in the 4th by loading the bases with two out. However, Rodriguez struck out the next batter to leave them loaded.
In the 5th inning, the Saints would again take advantage of wild pitching by the Crows starter. With one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Jake Miller struck out swinging but the pitch was wild allowing Carlos Turpo to score and Miller advancing to 1st on the wild pitch expanding the Saints lead to 4-2. After AJ Casario was hit by the pitch and loading the bases. With Andrew Schaan up to the plate, the Saints would score two more runs on wild pitches increasing their lead to 6-2. Schaan would strikeout later on in the at-bat on a pitch in the dirt. As the catcher threw to first completing the strikeout, Casario took off for home and slid head first, beating the throw and adding to the Saints lead and completing the scoring.
Rodriguez would collect the win for the Saints as he went the distance striking out 15 Crows batters. Johnson would collect the only two Saints hits in the game as Saints batters drew eight walks and two hit batters.
The Saints improve to 5-2 on the season and will be hosting the 2nd Annual Rally in the Valley Classic this weekend as part of the Rally in the Valley festivities. The Saints will play the first game of the tournament on Friday night at 6:45 PM against the Fargo Mets. The other six teams in the tournament are Aberdeen, Cando, Jamestown Greyhounds, Lansford, Mayville, and Velva. The full tournament schedule is listed below.
Friday
6:45 PM (Game 1) – Fargo vs. Valley City
8:45 PM (Game 2) – Mayville vs. Jamestown
Saturday
10:00 AM (Game 3) – Aberdeen vs. Velva
Noon (Game 4) – Lansford vs. Cando
2:00 PM (Game 5) – Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3
4:00 PM (Game 6) – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4
6:00 PM (Game 7) – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
8:00 PM (Game 8) – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4
Sunday
10:00 AM (Game 9) – 7th Place Game
Noon (Game 10) – 5th Place Game
2:00 PM (Game 11) – 3rd Place Game
4:00 PM (Game 12) – Championship Game