Dane Hagler/Photo courtesy of Tom Hager
Cando Post 79 received two more outstanding pitching performances last weekend.
The Bearcats competed in a tournament in Casselton, where they went 1-2. Despite the mixed results, Dane Hagler and Parker Simon still shined on the mound. Last week, it was Hagler and Karsen Simon who helped this Cando team the most. The Bearcats entered the tournament with a 7-2 overall record and gained some valuable experience playing less familiar teams.
They won their first game on Saturday, a 5-0 defeat of the Gardner Snakes. P. Simon led the way, pitching a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts, along with only three hits and one walk allowed. He did well at the plate, too, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Also contributing at the plate was Zach Jorde, who went 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs. Hagler had a typical day for him out of the leadoff spot, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Simon is committed to play baseball at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake next season. The recent graduate also played football and basketball throughout his North Star career.
The Bearcats’ win in that game advanced them to a matchup that same day with Fergus Falls, which beat Hatton-Northwood. Cando fell in this one, 12-0. Fergus Falls got the best of Jorde, who allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings. K. Simon surrendered two runs, and Brody Svir permitted five more. At the plate, Jorde and Sean Freund were the only Bearcats to record hits.
That brought Cando to its final game of the tournament on Sunday. Its last opponent was the host of the tournament, Casselton. This name might sound familiar to Devils Lake Journal readers, as the Haymakers were in Devils Lake just the other day for a doubleheader split against the Devils Lake A team. The Storm won Game 1, then lost an 11-10 thriller in the nightcap. That’s indicative of the quality the Bearcats were up against here, playing a solid Class A team.
And Cando lost a tight one, falling 3-2 on a walk-off walk. Hagler was dominant, allowing zero earned runs in seven innings, with eight strikeouts, four hits and one walk. But he did allow two unearned runs — one in the first and one in the third — that brought the game to an eighth inning with a 2-2 tie.
With K. Simon into the game on the mound and a free runner on second base, the Haymakers got things started with a bunt single. An intentional walk loaded the bases, and then a five-pitch walk ended the game.
Jorde had a good game at the plate for Cando, going 2-for-4 with a game-tying single. The Bearcats’ only other hits came from Hagler, P. Simon and Alec Peyerl.
The next stop for the Bearcats is a couple games against Bottineau and Renville County on Tuesday. Then they have another tournament next weekend, this time in Jamestown. Hagler gets a little preview of playing in the town that he’ll be calling home for the next four years.
Cando is having a strong summer and will look to keep playing well in anticipation of the late-July sectional tournament.
