The Valley City Post 60 Royals exploded for 14 runs against the top seed out of the West, the Bismarck Reps, to cruise to an opening-round win in the Class A State Legion Baseball Tournament in Mandan.

After both teams exchanged a scoreless first frame, Valley City would start the second inning with productive ABs from Will Schwehr and Andrew Sykora, who walked and singled, respectively, to bring up Isaac Norby with one out and runners at 1st and 2nd. Norby would lace a single past the diving shortstop to give the Royals an early 1-0 edge before a bunt single by Carver Pederson would double the advantage.

The Post 60 offense would get hot again early in the third, as Corbyn Powell led off with a walk, and Jack Samuelson and Will Schwehr hit back-to-back triples to stretch the Royals’ lead to 4-0. James Schwehr would lace a double down the line to make it a 5-0 Valley City lead. Bismarck would stop the bleeding and then rally for three runs of their own to make it 5-3.

The Royals utilized their plate discipline to pull a pair back in the top of the fourth, drawing a pair of walks and an HBP to push across one before a sac-fly by James Schwehr capped off the scoring in the frame. At the end of four, Valley City led 7-3.

Pitching wise after Ethan Miller was knocked out midway through the second, Carver Pederson came on and twirled 2.1 innings of scoreless relief before James Schwehr came on in the bottom sixth after Valley City tacked on a pair of runs in the top half of the inning. Schwehr would record a scoreless sixth as Valley City entered the seventh inning, leading 9-2.

After Pederson started the seventh inning with a pop out to the catcher, Miller’s double, Powell’s and Trevor Fetsch’s walks, and Jack Samuelson’s HBP plated another run, setting the stage for Will Schwehr with the bases loaded. The elder Schwehr would then launch a grand slam over the left field fence to give the Royals a 14-3 lead.

After the Bismarck lineup chased James Schwehr from the game after scoring a pair of runs, Andrew Sykora came in and got the last two outs, sealing a 14-5 win for Valley City. Due to pitch count rules, Miller cannot pitch until Saturday, while James Schwehr, Pederson, and Sykora are all available to pitch in tomorrow’s game.

That game will be against Kindred at 5:00 PM. That game can be heard on 1490 AM/ 96.3 FM KOVC and online at NewsDakota.com.