Two more area teams were eliminated Wednesday.
The postseason runs for North Star and Nelson County/Midkota baseball came to an end in the Region 5 and 2 tournaments, respectively.
Bearcats fall to Bottineau for second time
A day after a 10-9 comeback loss to No. 1 seed Bottineau (16-5), No. 2 seed North Star (9-7) dropped another close one, 9-7, in Wednesday’s championship at the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberyard. The Bearcats would have had to win twice to stay alive.
They led 3-0 in the top of the first behind a two-out rally and three errors. Coy Freund had an RBI single.
Hunter Hagler got the start in what turned out to be the final game of his high school career. He threw a perfect first inning before surrendering six two-out runs in the second. All six runs were unearned because of an error earlier in the inning.
North Star chipped away with a single run in each of the third and fourth innings. The Bearcats never came all the way back, though, as Bottineau added one in the fourth and two in the fifth. Hagler pitched all six innings for North Star, allowing nine runs (three earned) on 10 hits and three walks while striking out three.
Hagler hit a two-run double in his final high school at-bat, cutting the Bearcats’ deficit to 9-7.
North Star recorded just a hit batsman in the seventh as its comeback fell short.
The Bearcats are still looking for their first spring state appearance since 2023. They’ll graduate five seniors: Hagler, Freund, Levi Borstad, Brayton Thomas and Sean Freund.
Chargers’ run ends
NC/M had a nice win Saturday to get to this point, but the Chargers dropped a pair of games Wednesday en route to their elimination.
No. 5 seed NC/M (7-11) lost 4-0 to No. 1 seed Hillsboro/Central Valley (11-7) and 11-1 to No. 2 seed May-Port-C-G (9-6) at Scott Berry Field in Mayville.
Chargers sophomore John Molina was effectively wild in the loss to H/CV. He allowed four runs — but just one earned — over six innings. He threw only 65 of his 117 pitches for strikes, and he walked six, but he limited the top-seeded Burros to five hits while striking out five.
NC/M outhit H/CV 7-4. Landon Sundeen and Cooper Hovdenes each went 2-for-3. The top five batters in the Chargers’ order all had at least one hit. But they couldn’t put a rally together.
The loss to May-Port-C-G featured more of an offensive attack. The Patriots put up crooked numbers in each of the first four innings, including four in the third, to win by run rule. NC/M scored its lone run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Hovdenes.
The Chargers will only graduate two seniors, but they were two good ones: Sundeen and Brody Rainsberry. Both of them are accomplished athletes in football, basketball, baseball and track and field.
Sundeen actually qualified for state in shot put, so his spring isn’t quite over yet.
Both he and Rainsberry will be playing Legion baseball for the Devils Lake Storm this summer.
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