The Valley City Post 60 Royals capitalized on several West Fargo mistakes to grind out a 5-1 opening-round win.

The Vets got off to a hot start, jumping all over Ethan Miller with back-to-back hits, including a double from Jack Davies, which gave West Fargo an early 1-0 lead. Miller loaded the bases with two outs but got a groundout to second to limit the damage to just one run.

That deficit would not last long, as Valley City would respond with a pair of runs in the top of the second. With the bases loaded and one out, Andrew Sykora hit into a possible double play opportunity, but an errant throw by West Fargo would plate two runs for Valley City, giving them a lead they never relinquished.

The Royals would tack on three more runs the following inning, with Corbyn Powell earning an RBI off a sacrifice fly that plated Miller. A wild pitch on ball four would see the second run come across, and after an errant throw back to the pitcher, Gavin Gerhardt scampered home to make it a 5-1 lead for Valley City.

Both Miller and Gerhardt combined to shut down West Fargo until the seventh inning when James Schwehr was brought in with one out to try to pick up the save with two men on. Schwehr would induce a fielder’s choice that cut down the lead runner at third for the second out before striking out Tate Herrman for the final out.

Valley City will play Devils Lake in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 2:30 PM. That game can be heard on 1490 AM/ 96.3 FM KOVC.