Saturday was a good day for the Lake Region State College diamond sports. Not only did the softball team sweep a doubleheader for the second time this week, but the baseball team did, too — ending a 10-game losing streak.
The Royals nearly won last Wednesday’s nightcap against Bismarck State College, but they couldn’t get the job done in the late innings. Head coach Laurence Arango was candid that his team doesn’t “know how to win yet,” but at the same time, professed optimism that good things were to come.
Well, they found some of that success on Saturday.
Facing Dakota College at Bottineau (17-20, 4-10), the Royals (2-12, 7-21) won the first game 6-5 in walk-off fashion — literally — then took the second game 8-7. It was a pair of wins that exemplified the resilience and spirit that Arango has talked about before, even in some of the team’s losses.
Game 1
The day didn’t get off to the greatest start. LRSC pitcher Ronald Nelson gave up three runs in the first inning. He allowed three consecutive singles with one out, then issued a walk and surrendered another single that brought in two runs. The Royals found themselves in a 3-0 hole.
But they clawed back. It started with two runs in the bottom of the second, which came with two outs. Brady Ehnert drew a walk, and Hugh Montgomery reached on an error that brought in the first run. Tyler Kleinjan kept things going with a single, and Nelson helped his own cause with an RBI double that got the Royals within one.
They manufactured a run to tie it in the next inning. Hunter Brodina led off the bottom of the third with a walk; he stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout by his cousin, Brady Omdahl.
Nelson, meanwhile, settled in on the bump. He struck out two in the second inning and one in the third, working around a baserunner in each frame.
He cracked against the Jacks in the fourth inning, though. Despite a pair of strikeouts in the frame, a two-out single put Bottineau back ahead, 4-3.
The Royals were quick to strike back. Nelson hit a one-out single in the bottom of the fourth, and Marshel Herman put LRSC ahead with a two-run homer. Herman has been swinging a hot bat, and is hitting above .350 with an OPS over 1.000 now. He also leads the team in homers.
The Jacks tied it back up on an error by Brodina in the fifth. With runners on first and third, Bottineau executed a steal of second, and Brodina’s error allowed the lead runner to come home. Nelson ended the frame with a strikeout, limiting the damage and keeping it a 5-5 game.
The Royals had a chance to score in the bottom of the fifth, with two runners in scoring position and one one out. But Montgomery couldn’t get it deep enough to drive in a run. It was the same situation in the sixth, with a Herman double and an error putting runners on second and third again. Brodina hit a comebacker, and Jacob Ripplinger grounded out.
Nelson saved his cleanest innings for the end. He threw a perfect sixth and seventh, retiring the final eight batters he faced overall. He ended up striking out nine in a complete-game effort, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks.
Then the Royals got to rallying in the bottom of the seventh. Despite their blown chances the previous two innings, they made it relatively stress-free this time around. Omdahl singled, and Ehnert doubled to put Bottineau in immediate trouble. Montgomery walked to load the bases, and with Kleinjan up, he did all he needed to in order to win the game: draw another walk.
The Jacks didn’t record an out in the inning, and the Royals’ “walk”-off ended their 10-game losing streak.
Game 2
The Royals were the ones to strike first this time with a three-run inning. They put up a trio of runs in the bottom of the second — the three RBIs coming on a single from Keegan Wade-Parker, a sacrifice bunt from TJ Olson and a double from Montgomery.
The Jacks got one against Simon Beach in the third inning. Beach worked around a pair of hits in the second, but allowed a pair of doubles in the third that put Bottineau on the board. He followed with a scoreless fourth, navigating a one-out walk.
Back-to-back hit batsmen put Beach in some trouble in the fifth. The next batter doubled, bringing in both runs and tying the game at three apiece. A single and an error by Brodina kept the inning alive. Then a three-run homer blasted Bottineau ahead, capping an ugly five-run inning that seemed to deflate LRSC’s chances of securing the doubleheader sweep.
Not quite.
The Royals put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Herman couldn’t replicate his Game 1 magic and struck out, but Kaeden Siwak put a charge on a ball and sent it over the left field fence, tying the game in a flash. It was Siwak’s first homer of the season, a three-run blast to answer back to the one the Jacks hit just a half-inning earlier.
It was a brand new ballgame at 6-6.
Then the Royals initiated a two-out rally to go ahead in the sixth inning. Olson and Montgomery hit singles, and Kleinjan put LRSC on top with a two-run double.
Beach, after firing a perfect sixth, had some issues getting through the seventh. With one out, he surrendered a solo homer that sliced the 8-6 lead in half. Then back-to-back singles put the tying runs on base and the potential winning run at the plate.
But the game ended in a peculiar way, with Beach getting the final batter to fly into a double play. Right fielder Siwak made the catch, and both runners tried to tag up. Siwak threw it to Brodina in time to nab the runner trying to advance to second.
The Royals could take a deep breath. They’d held on to win their second barnburner of the day.
Beach, like Nelson, managed to pitch a complete game. He allowed seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits and one walk while striking out three.
A day like this should be a critical confidence booster for this squad. It’s a group that has shown both fight and inexperience, but one that Arango is determined to help develop. The Royals couldn’t find a way to win Wednesday’s tight battle, but they persevered through a pair of close games on Saturday, something they hadn’t done much yet this season.
Maybe they do know how to win now, as Arango would say. At the very least, they sure should have a better idea after Saturday’s success.
They have another doubleheader against Bottineau on Sunday, this time on the road, at 1 p.m. They’ll return home on Monday for a doubleheader against North Dakota State College of Science.
