Sheyenne-New Rockford Black Sox (Photo via New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School Facebook)
Sheyenne-New Rockford finished fourth in the Class B state baseball tournament last weekend in Jamestown. Thompson, the No. 1 seed going into the tournament, won the whole thing.
As previously recapped, the Black Sox won a thriller in their opener. Seeded No. 5, they beat the No. 4 seed, Des Lacs-Burlington, 3-2 in an 11-inning thriller. Keaton Cudworth and Connor Knatterud were fantastic on the mound, while Bradyn Collier had the game-winning hit.
But then they ran into Thompson.
The Tommies had an incredible season, going 26-1 overall. They were the favorites to win it all, and they fulfilled those high expectations. They won the Class B state title for the third consecutive year and the eighth time ever. Before this dominant 2022-24 run they’re on, they had previously won it all in 1983, 1985, 1999, 2005 and 2016.
Thompson beat S-NR 6-0 on Friday. The Black Sox’ Easton Simon only allowed one earned run in six innings, but three errors led to an additional five unearned runs. Four of them came in the sixth inning to really sink the Black Sox. Drew Odenbach was great for Thompson, pitching a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. Two of the hits came from Knatterud.
That ended the Black Sox’ state championship hopes, and sent them to the third-place game, where they lost 9-0 to No. 2-seeded Central Cass. S-NR ran into another flashy pitching performance, as Carter Maasjo pitched a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and only two walks. The Squirrels scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Thompson beat No. 3-seeded Grafton in the state championship game. It was a tight 4-3 contest that the Tommies won in walk-off fashion. Drew Overby and William Welke each had three hits, while Jonathan Muhs hit the walk-off knock. Brayden Wolfgram struck out 10 and allowed three runs (one earned) over seven innings.
Thompson had a 3-0 lead after two innings, and Grafton clawed back to tie it on a passed ball and an error in the fifth. The Spoilers nearly lived up to their name and spoiled the Tommies’ title hopes. But Wolfgram, after his incredible pitching performance, led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and he came around to score on Muhs’ RBI single.
New Rockford-Sheyenne High School has never won a Class B state title in baseball. This year was the fifth time it has made a state appearance. The others came in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000. The recent season will still be remembered fondly in the school’s history, considering the team hadn’t been to state in multiple decades.
The Black Sox were also the only representative of the Lake Region in this year’s tournament. North Star, Nelson County/Midkota and Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich all had solid seasons and were contenders to make it, but all three were eliminated in their region tournaments.
For North Star, it ended a run of four consecutive state appearances. The Bearcats have still never won the whole thing. And for LA/E/M, it ended a streak of three straight appearances. The Cardinals won their only state title in 2021.
The current Nelson County/Midkota co-op has never made it to state, though Dakota Prairie, Midkota, Lakota and McVille have all made individual appearances throughout the years. Lakota won it all in 1987. A co-op of Dakota Prairie/Tolna/Warwick also won a title in 1994.
That does it for the 2024 Class B high school baseball season. Everybody will have to wait until next year to try to tame the Tommies’ terror.
