Alex Weisenburger (Photo courtesy of New Rockford Transcript)
Sheyenne-New Rockford Post 30 won two games in this year’s District 4 baseball tournament. But it ultimately fell to Edgeley on Tuesday evening to end its season.
The Black Sox went 2-2 over two days in the tournament, which was held in Wishek. Five teams represented District 4 in the bracket, with S-NR seeded No. 2.
Alex Weisenburger was a key piece in giving the Black Sox a chance to win throughout this tournament. He went 7-for-15 with a grand slam out of the cleanup spot.
Monday
The Black Sox’ first-round matchup was with No. 3 seed Linton/Ashley/Wishek. They took a tight 4-3 loss on Monday to fall to the losers’ bracket.
With Easton Simon on the mound for S-NR, L/A/W struck first by scoring two in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly and a double. The Black Sox tied it back up with two runs in the bottom half, getting RBI singles from Weisenburger and Simon.
The Rattlers retook the lead on a two-run homer in the sixth. S-NR, after stranding two runners in the bottom of the sixth, scored one in the seventh but left the potential go-ahead runs in scoring position. Its comeback fell just short in the one-run defeat.
Simon still pitched a complete game for the Black Sox, allowing four runs on five hits. He collected eight strikeouts and didn’t issue any walks.
With the loss, S-NR moved to a losers-bracket game Monday evening against Kidder County. The Black Sox stayed alive with a 5-1 win.
Skye Kramlich allowed a home run to the very first batter of the game, but he otherwise settled in to give S-NR five strong innings. He allowed just the lone run on three hits, striking out six and walking three.
The Black Sox jumped ahead with three in the bottom of the first. The first four batters all collected hits, including a game-tying RBI double from Connor Knatterud and a go-ahead RBI single by Weisenburger. Simon brought in the third run with a groundout.
They added two more on a single by Jax Demester in the third, and that was more than enough offense to get the job done. Thomas Allmaras pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, and Demester recorded the final out.
With the victory, S-NR stayed alive to Tuesday.
Tuesday
The Black Sox took a 10-6 win over No. 5 seed Carrington Post 25 to make it to Tuesday night’s championship play-in game. They blew a big lead but managed to respond and scratch out the win.
Allmaras pitched the first three innings for S-NR. He allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Each team scored one in the first, and the game remained a standstill until the Black Sox erupted for four in the third. Weisenburger and Kason Nass recorded RBI hits in the frame, while Jackson Schumacher’s double kept the line moving.
Allmaras led off the bottom of the fourth by drawing a walk. He came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Kramlich, extending the S-NR lead to 6-1.
The five-run lead quickly got away from the Black Sox. Knatterud issued three walks in the fifth inning, and a line-drive double play limited the damage to one run. But Carrington rallied for four two-out runs in the sixth to tie it at 6-6. Demester issued a pair of bases-loaded free passes, and two runs scored on an error.
S-NR composed itself for its own four-spot in the bottom half. All four runs scored with two outs, with an RBI single by Weisenburger and a three-run double by Nass.
Weisenburger got the final three outs of an eventful 10-6 victory.
With that win, the Black Sox played another game on Tuesday with a chance to reach the tournament championship game. They faced No. 1 seed Edgeley and ultimately lost 6-5 to end their season.
S-NR carried leads of 4-1 and 5-2, but surrendered two runs in the seventh to fall on a walkoff.
The first three Black Sox batters of the game reached. Weisenburger smacked a grand slam to rocket them to a 4-0 lead.
Weisenburger also pitched the first 4 2/3 innings of the game. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and seven walks while striking out four. He grinded for a 109-pitch outing in what would end up being the last game of the summer.
With Knatterud taking over in relief, S-NR still clung to a 5-4 lead through six innings. Edgeley was down to its last out with a runner on first, but a hit to left field put runners on the corners. The walkoff came on an infield single and subsequent error by the third baseman Simon.
S-NR went 10-14 overall this summer, per the team’s GameChanger.
L/A/W and Edgeley will now battle it out for the championship Wednesday at 4 p.m. If Edgeley wins that game, the two teams will play another contest Wednesday evening to decide a tournament champion and state tournament representative.
