Sports Editor
After battling each other all season, the state's top five American Legion baseball teams will get to beat up on each other again this week for the State Seeding Tournament at Aafedt Stadium.
"It will be a knock down, drag out fight," said Minot coach Todd Larson.
With the change in the state this year, there is no West and East this time around. Instead the conference is state-wide and the top five teams play in one tournament for seeding in the state tournament, while the bottom six play for three state berths. That qualifying tourney is being held in Jamestown this week.
Although the top five teams, Dickinson, Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Fargo, are guaranteed spots in the state tournament in Minot Aug. 6-10, Williston coach Chip Devlin said there still needs to be a sense of urgency this week.
"It's likely one of the teams here will be the state champs and now is the time to make a statement. Baseball is about momentum and we need to get on a roll, and that will be everyone's goal," said Devlin.
While Dickinson comes in as the "season champion", no one team is being tabbed as the favorite.
"We have five teams within a couple of games of each other in the standings, so you've got to expect some pretty competitive games this week," said Bismarck coach Mike Skytland.
Unlike the normal West and East tournaments, where some stronger teams will get a shot at some weaker ones, the seeding tournament will be more of a state preview, with the teams that likely will be in the semifinals.
The tournament will be a round-robin affair with each team playing each of the four teams to decide the seeding going into the state tournament.
Another twist for the teams will be the nine-inning games, replacing the seven-inning ones the teams have played during the regular season.
"We've been trying to talk about the nine innings and the mental toughness to stay in the games as much as we can," said Devlin. "We tried to squeeze some nine-inning games into the season, but of the three we had, two were decided by 10-run rules and didn't go the nine. Now we'd certainly take 10-run wins, but you can't count on that."
Minot's Coach Larson also said the nine inning game is an adjustment and players need to realize there's a lot of innings to correct any mishaps.
"We've been staying on them about being tough mentally and not letting one play ruin the whole game for you," he said.
Minot comes in as the two-time defending state champion, while Williston won the high school state title this year, and Dickinson won the high school title last year.
Minot also features one of the best players in the state in Zac Elgie, who leads the Vistas with 58 RBIs and 12 home runs. He was early drafted by the Oakland As. Elgie is one guy teams will try to pitch around, but the Vistas can put the ball in play, hitting .343 as a team.
"We need to hit the ball and hit consistently for nine innings," said Larson.
Dickinson will bring a couple of pretty good pitchers into the tournament in Kyle Schroeder and Steven Laylock. Both have 6-0 records, but Schroeder has an eye-popping 0.30 ERA, allowing just two earned runs over 46 innings pitched and a team-high 21 strikeouts. Laylock brings a 1.67 ERA.
The Roughriders also can hit the ball, with a .316 team average, led by Laylock, who's batting .461 and Cole Frenzel at .407, with 11 homers.
Bismarck features a solid defensive unit, with just 46 errors on the year, compared to 101 for their opponents. Jon Hausauer leads the pitching staff with a 6-2 mark, while Zach Wentz has had some bad luck, going 4-3, despite a 1.62 ERA.
"We have a lot of pitching depth and that should be one of strengths. We've been much better on the mound down the stretch," said Skytland.
Wentz makes his own luck with the bat, hitting .523 at the dish, with 57 RBIS, 10 homers and 10 doubles on the year. Taylor Isakson also is hitting .434 with 44 RBIs. The team sports a .355 average.
For the home team Keybirds, pitching will be a concern. "We have plenty of arms, we just need guys to throw strikes and keep the ball down. We need guys to chew up two to four innings for us," said Devlin.
Tyler Burnett has been the most consistent on the mound for Williston, going 5-2 with a 2.78 ERA. Trevor Sorenson, who went unbeaten in the high school season, has struggled just a bit, going 4-3 with a 4.02 ERA. Jeff Skadeland has been looking strong as of late with a 3-1 mark, while Alex Hanson has been a bit of a closer for the Keybirds, but also could start. Eric Olson and Logan Jangula haven't been overpowering, but have found ways to win, as each have 4-0 records.
At the plate, the Keybirds are hitting .336 as a team and have the potential to put everyone on base. "We need to hit the ball. We've hit out of pitching and fielding mistakes. We know we have to have double digit hits or we have to have some aces on the mound," said Devlin.
Fargo may come in as a bit of tired team, closing the season with eight conference games in four days. They were position to take over the top spot in the state, but faded down the stretch.
Post 2 has some solid pitching and hitting and like any team, they could find themselves as the top seed after it's all said and done.
Dickinson Roughriders
American Legion Post: 3
Overall record: 31-13
State record: 15-5
Coaches: Head Coach Cory Hansen, Asst. Coach Andy Emard, Asst. Coach Brian Smith
Pitching: Kyle Schroeder 6-0, .30 ERA, 21 K, 14 BB (2 earned runs in 46 inn.); Steven Laylock 6-0, 1.67 ERA, 17 K, 12 BB; Michael Steve 4-1, 4.57 ERA; Grant Kovacs 4-4, 3.39, 18 K, 16 BB; Travis Tooley 3-2, 2.97; Tyler Steffan 2-3, 2.95.
Hitting: Stephen Laylock .461, 2 HR, 8 2B, 12 BB, 25 RBI; Cole Frezel .407, 11 HR, 8 2B, 50 RBI, 34 BB, 46 R; Ben Herauf .394, 9 HR, 12 2B, 62 RBI, 24 BB, 37 R; Grant Kovacs .364, 2 HR, 7 2B, 18 BB, 36 RBI; Travis Tooley .338, 2 HR, 18 2B, 22 BB, 25 RBI, 45 R; Jackson Wandler .313, 3 HR, 4 2B, 10 BB, 21 RBI; Andy Tomanek .276, 12 RBI; Tyler Steffan .267, 25 RBI, 4 HR, 17 BB; Kyle Schroeder .230, 12 RBI, 25 BB; Michael Steve .224, 15 RBI, 6 2B, 21 BB.
Team Roster:
NO. NAME POS.
2 Grant Dvorak P/IF
3 Kyle Breen C/IF
4 Steven Laylock P/IF
5 Benjamin Herauf P/1B
7 Jackson Wandler P/OF
9 Travis Tooley P/OF
10 Ryan Jones P/OF
11 Andy Tomanek P/IF
12 Tyler Steffan P/OF
13 Sean Kelly P/IF
15 Michael Steve P/3B
19 Grant Kovacs P/1B
20 Kyle Schroeder P/OF
22 Eric Seller P/OF
24 Cole Frenzel P/SS
Bismarck Governors
American Legion Post: 1
Overall record: 29-12
State record: 14-6
Coaches: Head Coach Mike Skytland, Asst. Coach Matt Power, Asst. Coach Blaine Steiner.
Pitching: Jon Hausauer 6-2, 3.18 ERA, 8 K, 12 BB; Zach Wentz 4-3, 1.62 ERA, 29 K, 6 BB, 11 ER; Hunter Johnson 4-1, 4.78, 9 K, 18 BB; Brady Wolf 4-1, 4.16; Jon Herold 3-0, 3.98; Matt Chuppe 3-2, 5.47.
Hitting: Zach Wentz .523, 10 HR, 10 2B, 3 3B, 57 RBI, 26 BB, 51 R; Jacob Hruby .451, 6 2B, 20 RBI; Taylor Isakson .434, 11 2B, 44 RBI, 44 RBI, 42 R; Hunter Johnson .359, 13 2B, 27 RBI, 22 R; Cody Erhardt .345, 6 2B, 27 RBI; 41 R; Matt Chuppe .321, 8 2B, 31 RBI, 21 R; Jon Herold .313, 14 RBI, 20 R; Tyler Peterson .308, 9 2B, 16 RBI, 40 R; Jon Hausauer .273, 3 2B, 2 3B, 20 RBI, 32 BB, 38 R; Brady Wolf .268.
Team Roster:
NO. NAME POS.
3 Tyler Peterson OF/P
4 Cody Erhardt OF/P
5 Jacob Hruby OF/P
7 Alex Deyle SS/P
9 Tate Leapaldt IF/OF/P
10 Hunter Johnson 3B/C/P
11 Taylor Isakson C/1B
19 Brady Wolf 2B/P
20 Zach Wentz 1B/SS/P
21 Matt Chuppe IF/OF/P
22 Jon Herold IF/OF/P
23 Jon Hausauer 2B/3B/P
Minot Vistas
American Legion Post: 26
Overall record: 33-16
State record: 14-6
Coaches: Head Coach Todd Larson, Asst. Coach Andy Latch, Jason Steele
Pitching: Zac Elgie 6-1, 3.39 ERA, 35 K, 15 BB; Ryan Bollinger 6-3, 2.86 ERA, 55 K, 22 BB (0 HR); Josh Oothoudt 4-1, 4.05 ERA, 18 K, 16 BB; Clay Kallias 3-1, 6.64 ERA, 28 K, 13 BB; Shane Gathman 3-3, 5.69 ERA, 34 K, 24 BB; Ethan Sundheim 3-4, 6.60 ERA, 30 K, 20 BB; Dane Towery 2-1, 4.20 ERA, 18 K, 16 BB.
Hitting: Darin Back .457, 1 HR, 6 2B, 4 3B, 33 RBI, 28 R; Ryan Bollinger .417, 16 2B, 6 HR, 47 RBI, 35 R; Derek Somerville .364, 12 2B, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 26 BB, 32 R; Creighton Bachmeier .362, 5 2B, 8 RBI, 34 BB, 48 R; Ben Kramer .352, 5 2B, 4 HR, 15 BB, 21 RBI, 19 R; Zac Elgie .348, 12 HR, 10 2B, 3 3B, 58 RBI, 26 BB, 45 R; Josh Oothoudt .324, 12 RBI, 17 R; Clay Kallias .323, 10 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 20 BB, 31 R; Ryne Hornecker .311, 4 2B, 10 RBI, 26 R; Ethan Sundheim .293, 3 2B, 8 RBI; Gathman .287, 8 2B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 26 R.
Team roster:
NO. NAME POS.
1 Brett Fidler C
2 Ethan Sundheim IF/P
3 Ryne Hornecker IF/P
4 Shane Gathman OF/P
5 Creighton Bachmeier OF/P
6 Ryan Bollinger OF/P
7 Donald Allard 1B/P
8 Ben Kramer C
9 Dane Towery C/P
10 Derek Somerville IF/P
11 Josh Oothoudt IF/P
12 Jory Walker OF/P
13 Jordan Rubbelke IF/P
15 Clay Kallias IF/P
16 Kalvin Larson OF
17 Brian Himmerick IF
18 Zac Elgie 1B/P
24 Darin Back IF/P
Williston Keybirds
American Legion Post: 37
Overall record: 31-11
State record: 13-7 Coaches: Head Coach Chip Devlin, Asst. Coach Tyler Liffrig, Asst. Coach Andy Leer.
Pitching: Tyler Burnett 5-2, 2.78 ERA, 30 K, 27 BB (0 HR); Trevor Sorenson 4-3, 4.02, 40 K, 26 BB; Eric Olson 4-0, 3.62, 5 K, 11 BB; Logan Jangula 4-0, 11.61 ERA, 7 K, 25 BB; Alex Hanson 23, 3.94 ERA, 18 K, 25 BB; Jarrett Duchscher 4-1, 3.71 ERA, 16 K, 25 BB; Jeff Skadeland 3-1, 4.98 ERA, 28 K, 28 BB; James Laqua 3-1, 3.74 ERA, 12 K, 10 BB; Shawn Egge 1-0, 11.12 ERA, 12 K, 19 BB.
Hitting: Jordan Braun .415, 2 HR, 13 BB, 20 RBI, 17 R; Quinn Devlin .382, 5 Hr, 13 2B, 2 3B, 36 RBI, 43 R; Alex Hanson .381, 10 2B, 2 3B, 33 RBI, 40 R, 20 BB; Shawn Egge .358, 3 HR, 14 2B, 5 3B, 34 RBI, 57 R, 24 BB; Trevor Sorenson .350, 5 HR, 13 2B, 2 3B, 56 RBI, 53 R, 43 BB; James Laqua .343, 12 2B, 1 HR, 2 3B, 41 RBI, 29 R, 18 BB; Jeff Skadeland .301, 2 HR, 11 2B, 1 3B, 35 RBI, 44 R, 20 BB; Doug Richter .287, 3 HR, 7 2B, 26 RBI, 37 R; Casey Gardner .306, 11 RBI (36 AB).
Team Roster:
NO. NAME POS.
2 Nathan Wingerter IF
3 Jordan Braun IF
4 Eric Olson P
5 James Laqua OF/1B
6 Shawn Egge OF/IF/P
7 Jacob Axtman C
8 Trevor Sorenson P/1B/OF
9 Jarrett Duchsher P
12 Quinn Devlin OF/P
13 Casey Gardner OF
14 Douglas Richter C/IF
15 Alex Hanson P/IF
19 Jeffrey Skadeland P/OF
20 Jordan Nelson P/OF
22 Derrick Linghor P/1B
23 Tyler Burnett P/1B
24 Jonathan Westphal P/OF
25 Logan Jangula P/OF
Fargo Post 2
American Legion Post: 2
State record: 12-8 Coaches: Head Coach Bill Ibach, Asst. Coach Randy Rustad, Asst. Coach Luke Rustad, Asst. Coach Matt Erzar
Team Roster:
NO. NAME POS.
3 Matthew Lee IF/OF
4 Zachary Braaten IF/P
5 Andrew Schweigert C/OF
6 Christian Barnum IF/C
7 Eric Jagim OF/P
8 Jacob Nystrom OF/P
10 Cory Shelton IF/C
11 Maxwell Rusch IF/P
12 Benjamin Sand IF/P
13 Zachary Noriega IF/P
14 Justin Fahy OF
15 Anthony Schutz OF/P
16 Brady Meyers OF/P
17 Samuel Hirchert OF/P
24 Michael Jones IF/C
26 Ryan Messerschmidt IF/P
29 Kyle Kingsley IF/P
30 Bryant Larson IF/P