DEVILS LAKE — Kindred Post 117 entered the Class A East tournament as the No. 6 out of eight seeds.
On Friday, the Vikings clinched a spot in the state tournament. They took down the No. 2 seed, the Fargo Post 2 Jets, 6-2 at DLYA Field. It earned them a spot in Saturday’s tournament championship.
“We wanted to make it to state, and being the six seed, you don’t have that pressure,” Kindred head coach Josh Allmaras said. “But we knew that we have a talented group of guys that are continuing to improve tremendously as the year goes on.”
Kindred (17-13) rode a sensational effort from 15-year-old lefty Eli Maack. He held the Jets (27-8) to two runs in 6 2/3 innings, collecting six strikeouts. Maack walked three and surrendered just two hits.
“I had a lot of confidence, because I knew that if they did hit it, my fielders would make plays,” Maack said. “So it’s nice to have that as a pitcher.”
Maack traded zeroes with Fargo’s Finn Bergseth for the first two innings.
Bergseth, a short-statured righty, got through the first inning on just nine pitches. But he issued a leadoff walk in each of the next two. Catcher Sam Chase caught a runner stealing in the second inning, and Bergseth stranded the runner on third base in the third.
Bergseth was effectively wild — only 17 of his 35 pitches in the first three innings were strikes — but he held the Vikings off the board for the time being.
Kindred countered with Maack, a deceptive southpaw. He retired the first six Post 2 hitters. The first four batters grounded out, and Maack ended the second inning with a looking strikeout.
“He’s got a great fastball and a phenomenal mix,” Allmaras said.
But Maack’s control eluded him in the bottom of the third. He hit the leadoff batter, then walked a pair to load the bases with two outs. Kindred held a mound visit to consult with him.
Bergseth, the pitcher and three-hole hitter on the opposite side, swung at the first pitch and lined a single into right field. It was the first hit of the game for either team, jumping the Jets in front 2-0.
Those would be Fargo’s last runs of the evening.
Armed with a lead, Bergseth continued to have trouble finding the zone in the top of the fourth. He hit a batter and walked another. Graham Hesse recorded Kindred’s first hit of the game to load the bases, and Sawyer Hesse hit a hard grounder past the third baseman for a two-base error.
The knock tied it up at 2-2. With runners on second and third, Bergseth collected his third strikeout to avoid further damage.
But the Vikings broke out for four runs against him in the fifth. Bergseth missed a popup, and a bunt hit by Brady Baumgarten put two on. The runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Stanley Belaskie lined a two-run single to put Kindred on top.
G. Hesse added another run with a double into the left-center gap. An error kept the inning alive, and Hesse scored on a wild pitch. Things rapidly slipped away for the Jets, who saw their 2-0 lead evaporate into a 6-2 deficit over the span of a couple innings.
“We knew that we were hitting the ball pretty hard, but we wanted to put the pressure on,” Allmaras said. “I mean, that’s our game. We’ve got speed. We want to put the ball in play and wreak havoc. And the guys executed really well for the most part.”
Maack, who’d struggled in the third inning, locked back in. He worked around a two-out error in the fourth, ending the frame with a perfectly dotted fastball on the inner half. He struck out two more in a perfect fifth, giving him six punchouts.
“I was super proud of how he came back and threw a bunch of zeros on the board,” Allmaras said. “He showed a tremendous amount of competitiveness.”
Maack not only regained the feel for his curveball, but he found ways to pump his fastball past the Jets’ hitters. He located it well on both sides of the plate.
“There’s throwers and there’s pitchers,” Allmaras said. “And Eli is a pitcher.”
Maack struck out three in a row and five in a seven-batter span at one point. The streak only ended on a soft grounder that snuck through the right side. He hit a batter to put two runners on for Post 2 in the bottom of the sixth, but he got out of it with a fielder’s choice.
With his pitch count at 94, Maack went back out for the seventh. He got the first two outs with ease. He came within one strike of a complete game, but lost Chase to a 3-2 walk.
Maack had to settle for 6 2/3 strong innings of work. He finished with 108 pitches. Maack exited to a roaring ovation from the Kindred faithful on hand.
“Incredibly proud of the job that he did,” Allmaras said.
Kindred’s skipper also commended the job that catcher G. Hesse did behind the dish.
“He is catching a phenomenal game back there. He’s calling great pitches,” Allmaras said. “And those things that catchers do with their pitchers, they’re very unselfish individuals.”
Belaskie took over to get the final out on the mound. He had to grind for it, loading the bases on a hit batsman and a walk, but he induced a grounder to short to end the game.
The Kindred offense didn’t record a hit in two innings against the Post 2 bullpen. But it didn’t matter in securing the 6-2 victory and a spot in the championship.
“It feels nice to make it there, because we feel like we’re good enough,” Maack said. “We’re still gonna take it just as seriously as we would. It still means a lot to play in the championship.”
The Vikings will now contend with No. 1 seed Devils Lake at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Regardless of what happens, this underdog squad will be representing the East in the state tournament, which begins July 31 in Casselton.
“The East region is such a fantastic region in baseball,” Allmaras said. “And to make it to the championship game is huge.”
Consolation bracket
Fargo Post 400 Comets 3, West Fargo Aces 1
- Jack Bjornson: 7.0 IP, 7 H, R, 0 BB, 3 K
- Tucker Kosen: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
Wahpeton Post 20 3, Casselton Post 15 Haymakers 4 (11 innings)
- Lucas Christiansen: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
- Carter Maasjo: 5.1 IP, H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K
- Keagan Peterson: 2-for-5, R
- Ryan Aasmundstad scored on walk-off wild pitch
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