New Rockford Post 30 went 1-1 on Monday to kick off the District 4 Legion baseball tournament.
Langdon Post 98 lost its only game of the day in the District 5 tournament.
New Rockford
The District 4 games are happening in Carrington this week. New Rockford (4-8-1), seeded No. 4, won 18-7 over No. 5 seed Kidder County to get the tournament started. The Black Sox scored five runs in the second inning, seven in the third and six in the fourth.
New Rockford achieved the offensive downpour despite only six hits. Kidder County pitchers walked 13 batters in four innings of work. Alex Weisenburger led the way with three walks. Thomas Allmaras and Jax Demester both had run-scoring doubles.
Five consecutive New Rockford batters walked in the fourth inning.
Demester started for the Black Sox and allowed one run on three hits over three innings. He struck out two and didn’t issue any walks. Beau Baumbach pitched the final two innings, allowing six runs (four earned).
New Rockford advanced to a game later on Monday against No. 1 seed Edgeley Post 146. The Black Sox lost that one, a tight 4-2 contest, to move to the losers’ bracket.
It was a 0-0 tie through three innings. Standout athlete Easton Simon, who recently wrapped a remarkable career in football and basketball, had the ball for the Black Sox. He stranded runners in scoring position in the second and third innings to keep it tied.
Edgeley struck first on a pair of two-out RBI doubles in the fourth inning. New Rockford responded in the top of the fifth, tying it on a two-run homer by Allmaras.
Simon pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth but gave up a solo homer in the sixth. Edgeley added a two-out RBI knock to make it 4-2. Overall, Simon permitted four runs on seven hits over six innings in a complete-game loss. He struck out four and walked two.
New Rockford had a leadoff baserunner in the seventh due to an error, but the 1-2-3 hitters went down in order to close it out.
The Black Sox moved to a 1 p.m. elimination game Tuesday against No. 2 seed Wishek Ashley Linton Post 87, 53, 54.
Langdon
The Red Sox are hosting a small tournament of only three teams this week in Langdon.
Langdon is the No. 1 seed.
But the Red Sox (13-7) fell 5-4 to No. 2 seed Grafton on Monday. It was Grafton’s second win of the day after beating No. 3 seed Midway Minto Post 201, 5-3.
Langdon scored all four of its runs in the second inning. Grady Pankratz hit a bases-loaded single, while two runs scored on a fielder’s choice and Theo Romfo completed the rally with a sacrifice fly.
Romfo also got the start on the mound. He gave up a two-out, two-run double in the third inning, and then another run scored on an error to cut Langdon’s lead to 4-3. Romfo struck out the side in the fourth, but he surrendered a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth.
Langdon had baserunners but couldn’t capitalize against Grafton starter Trentan Keena, who allowed seven hits and six walks while striking out six over 6 2/3 innings.
Basketball star Brody Lillemoen came in for the final out. He allowed a single to Pankratz — the third hit of the day for Langdon’s No. 9 hitter — but the game ended with an out on the basepaths.
Pankratz and Bensen Fetsch, the bottom two hitters in the lineup, combined for five of Langdon’s eight hits. The top three hitters combined to go 0-for-9. Langdon had just one hit from the top five batters in the lineup.
Romfo, overall, allowed five runs (three earned) on 10 hits in seven innings. The Alexandria Tech commit struck out six and walked three. He threw 97 pitches (67 strikes).
Langdon moved to a loser-out game Tuesday against Midway Minto. The tournament championship will follow, with an if-necessary game to be played Wednesday.