VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) Waldorf’s Brett Stenlund hit a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning Saturday, giving the Warriors a three-run lead as they held off Valley City State at the North Star Baseball Championships.
The Warriors scored three runs in the first inning and made it hold up – getting some breathing room with Stenlund’s late blast – as they defeated the Vikings 5-3 in a winner’s bracket game.
Waldorf (30-20) advances to play top seed Bellevue University in a winner’s bracket game Sunday at 11 a.m. Valley City State (19-23) drops into a loser-out game against Mayville State University at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Waldorf leadoff hitter Joey Ponder doubled off the wall to start the game, setting the tone for a three-run inning by the Warriors. On the next pitch, Alejandro Gonzalez singled home Ponder for a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez later scored on Garrett Gillen’s infield single, and Matt Palmer came around to score on a throwing error by Viking third baseman Christian Peery to make it 3-0.
The Vikings would get on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Sal Avila laced a pitch down the left-field line, scoring pinch runner Shaun Kourajian and cutting the Warrior lead to 3-1.
Both teams had chances to put up more runs in the early innings, but two-out hits were hard to come by. The teams combined to leave 13 runners on base through the first five innings, including seven by Waldorf and six by the Vikings.
Valley City State finally broke through again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jorun Hamre singled to leadoff the inning and then took second and third on wild pitches. With two outs, Nathan Demarais fell behind 0-2 in the count but worked it back even and then lined one back up the middle to score Hamre and cut the deficit to 3-2.
After allowing three runs in the first inning, VCSU starter Nicholas Vargas settled in and went all nine innings. Vargas held the Warriors scoreless for seven straight innings before Stenlund’s 2-run blast in the top of the ninth. Vargas scattered nine hits, allowed five runs, walked three and struck out five.
Waldorf starter Heath Chapman worked six strong innings, allowing seven hits and the two runs. He walked two and struck out six. Andrew Benns pitched the final three innings for the save, allowing three hits and an unearned run in the ninth inning.
VCSU brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Grant Wehseler’s two-out double scored Nathan Demarais and cut the Waldorf lead to 5-3, but Benns got Brady Smith to ground out to end the game.
Stenlund had two hits and two RBIs for Waldorf, while Garrett Gillen had a pair of hits and one RBI. The Warriors finished with nine hits.
Jorun Hame, Nathan Demarais and Sal Avila each had a pair of hits for the Vikings, who totaled 10 hits. Both of Avila’s hits were doubles, and both he and Demarais drove in a run.