VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Saints returned to action on Tuesday evening as they hosted a game against the Jamestown Elks. Despite several starters being unavailable due to prior commitments, the Saints battled and scrapped against a solid Elks team. But the Elks would ultimately would beat the Saints 3-1 in 7 innings. The game was originally scheduled for 9 innings, but both teams mutually agreed to only play 7 due to a lack of available pitching.
Both Saints starter Dustin Mertz and Elks starter Cole Christensen held their opponents scoreless through the first two innings. But the Saints would strike first blood in the bottom of the 3rd. After the first two men got out, JB Morales started the two out rally with a walk. Jake Miller proceeded to hit a routine ground ball to second base, but the ball went under the legs of the Elks second baseman to put runners on the corners. Dustin Mertz then helped his own cause with an RBI single to left center field scoring Morales and give the Saints a 1-0 lead.
However the lead wouldn’t last very long. Reed Hanson led off the top of the 4th for the Elks with a single. A Mertz wild pitch would move Hanson over to second base with one out. Danny Fischer then hit a nubber off the end of the bat to shortstop. With no play at first, Saints shortstop Carlos Turpo threw the ball to 3rd. Turpo’s throw beat Hanson to the bag, however Morales missed the tag and Hanson slid into 3rd safely. Another Mertz wild pitch would score Hanson to tie the game at 1.
The next inning, the Elks would take the lead as Brian Rice led off the inning with a walk. With one out, Mertz attempted to pick off Rice at 1st, but the throw went off Mason Nemitz’s glove and rolled underneath the tarp giving Rice 3rd base. Later in the at-bat, Rhett Hays hit a sac fly to right field scoring Rice and giving the Elks a 2-1 lead. The Elks would extend their lead to 3-1 in the next inning after a Cole Christensen triple scored Danny Fischer.
The Saints would make things interesting in their last at-bat off Elks closer Sam Greenhalgh, who was in his second inning of work. Andrew Schaan lead off the inning with a walk. Then Will Hough walked with one out putting the tying on base. A wild pitch by Greenhalgh advanced both runners into scoring position. However, Greenhalgh stood his ground and struck the final two Saints out to end the game.
Mertz was the hard luck loser on the mound for the Saints as he went all 7 innings giving up three runs (one earned) on five hits, walking five, and striking out ten. The defense didn’t help Mertz either as the Saints committed five errors behind him. The Saints offense could only muster three hits as Mertz along with Brett Kohn and Will Hough each singled for the Saints. Carlos Turpo stole his team leading fourth base of the season in the loss.
The Saints fall to 6-5 on the season and will be back in action next Wednesday, July 6th as they’ll host the Enderlin Indies at Charlie Brown Memorial Field. First pitch will be at 7:00 PM.