FROM HUNTER GREENMYER
LIDGERWOOD, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Oakes was able to come out victorious on the road in their Thursday night matchup against Lidgerwood -Hankinson 12-4.
A couple of game delays couldn’t stop Oakes from getting out to an early 6-1 lead. Oakes outfielder Steele Hansen hit a two-run bomb to extend their lead to 8-1 at the top of the fifth inning. Hansen also made a few incredible diving catches in left field throughout the game. A quick couple of pitching changes from Oakes and some costly errors lead to Lidgerwood-Hankinson crawling their way back into the game, partly thanks to a solo home run hit by Cruz Hernandez. Going into the top of the seventh inning, Oakes only held an 8-4 lead, but a couple of big hits and some errors helped Oakes put an exclamation point on their victory.
Oakes starting pitcher Connor Schall had six strikeouts and Howie Neustel contributed five more in relief.
Oakes Post 36 concludes their regular season with a record of 8-2 and will be the #2 seed in the upcoming 2022 Class B District 7 Legion Baseball Tournament which will be held in LaMoure from Monday, July 18th through Thursday, July 21st.
Oakes opens up the tournament against the #7 seed Fairmount at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. You can listen to the game on KDDR 1220 AM/100.3 FM The Tornado, stream it online at newsdakota.com, or on The Tornado app.