By The game went the distance and then some, but in the end, Brandon Valley Post 131 survived and advanced to the Class A American Legion baseball tournament.
Brayden Knutson’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Brandon Valley a 3-2 win Friday, July 26 at Fossum Field.
The Smittys ended their season with a 32-20 record after dropping the best-of-three series two games to none.
“It was just a great game,” Aberdeen head coach Nate Gonnelly said. “We went nine innings, no errors committed, guys getting timely hits, bunts laid down, plays being made all over the field. It was just a well-played game by both teams. Unfortunately, sometimes you come up just short.”
Cooper Eisenbeisz reacts with teammate Drew Salfrank after scoring in the top of the third inning against Brandon Valley on Friday, July 26 at Fossum Field. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Zane Backous, who missed Game 1 with a migraine, got the start for the Smittys. He went five innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out three and walked seven.
MORE: Kastigar, Rivett among those to be honored at Northern State Hall of Fame banquet
“I just couldn’t find it with my fastball today, it just never felt that good coming out of my hand, and I walked way too many batters,” Backous said. “Credit to Joran (Foss), who came in and pitched three solid innings for us. No question we’re going to need his arm for the next couple of years.”
Backous went three for four at the plate, delivering in the first two Aberdeen runs on a double to right-center off pitcher Rylan Carroll, Brandon’s starting pitcher.
“A lot of times if I’m in a slump it’s because I’m trying to think about which pitch he’ll throw in the count,” Backous said. “I was just really pissed off that I missed (Thursday’s) game that when I got into the batter’s box I just decided whatever pitch he throws, if it’s near the strike zone I’m gonna rope it, and he threw a slider that got a little in, but I was able to pull it down the line and scored two runs.”
The wind was steady all game long with 15-20 mph gusts blowing in from right field, turning would-be extra base hits into drifting pop outs.
Phillips Zens fell victim on a ball that would have normally gotten to the wall. That was with runners on in the top of the fourth inning.
“I thought we played really well defensively and our pitching was really solid outside of a few walks, but offensively we just put too many balls in the air,” Zens said. “Today we hit three or four balls that any other day go to the wall or over it. You just have to change your approach and try to stick with line drives and ground balls and, unfortunately, we didn’t do enough of that today.”
Members of the Aberdeen Smittys and Brandon Valley shake hands following Game 2 of the Class A region tournament Friday, July 26 at Fossum Field. Brandon Valley won the series two games to none to advance to the state tournament. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Knutson’s game-winning single came off Foss with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
“I usually try and go the other way, I’m not much of a pull hitter, so, yeah, I try and go to the opposite field,” Knutson said. “The wind was tough today, but the ball got down. I was scared for a second, I thought (Aberdeen outfielder Drew Salfrank) was going to run under it.”
“Great group of kids this year, no question, and we’re pretty excited about next year, too,” Gonnelly said after finishing his first season at the helm. “We’ve got some seniors returning and some younger guys at the junior Legion level that will come up and help us out.”
Backous said he appreciated the camaraderie on this year’s squad.
“I don’t know why, honestly, but the friendships you make in baseball are the best you can make. I just truly believe that and we had such a great group of guys,” he said.
Cooper Eisenbeisz lines an RBI double to left for the Aberdeen Smittys during Game 1 of their region tournament series against Brandon Valley Thursday, July 25 at Fossum Field. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo
Smittys drop Game 1 by three runs
The Smittys lost Game 1 to Brandon 5-2 on Thursday, July 25 at Fossum Field.
Drew Salfrank turns and throws to third from center field during Game 1 of the Aberdeen Smittys region tournament series against Brandon Valley Thursday, July 25 at Fossum Field. Salfrank completed a double play after making a catch. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Brandon Valley starting pitcher Aiden Zerr, a University of Notre Dame commit, gave his team a strong start. Zerr went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out nine and walked one.
“Zerr did a fantastic job for them, but we’ve seen pretty good pitching this season,” Gonnelly said. “We just have to do a better job of producing throughout our lineup.”
Cooper Eisenbeisz, who drove in Aberdeen’s first run with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, acknowledged that Zerr, who can reach low 90s with his fastball, kept the Smittys off balance in the early innings.
“He came out slingin’ it and we haven’t really seen that (velocity),” Eisenbeisz said. “All year, teams we played, Lake Norden, Groton, Huron, I mean maybe we’ve seen 90 twice this season, and that definitely caught us off guard. Some of us weren’t on time, myself included, and when our sticks woke up, it was a tad late. There’s nothing you can do about it, that’s just baseball.”
Eisenbeisz took advantage of a break when he hit his RBI double.
“I got down 1-2 in the count and I watched two pitches, one that was borderline and probably could have struck me out on, but I’m not arguing,” he said. “I get to a full count and saw the ball out of his hand that it was a fastball and I unleashed the trigger. I mean, he wasn’t throwing 90s anymore, he was starting to slow down a bit, and I just pulled the trigger on an inside fastball. It felt good off the bat, and I knew I got every piece of the ball.”
MORE: Aberdeen Aqua Addicts host regional show ski tournament this weekend
Salfrank added the Smittys other RBI with a single to center that scored Lance Siefken in the bottom of the seventh. Salfrank also started an 8-5 double play in the sixth with a catch in center field and throw to Vining at third to get a runner trying to tag up.
“Drew made a heck of a play out in center, caught it then threw it about 200 feet on one bounce to get the runner, which is pretty tough to do,” Gonnelly said.
Smittys junior Legion squad advances to state tournament
The Aberdeen Smittys junior Legion baseball team punched its ticket to the Class A state tournament by knocking off Sioux Falls East Post 15.
The Smittys picked up a 15-6 win in Game 1 then came back to sweep the series with a 7-3 win in Game 2.
Aberdeen opens the state tournament against Sioux Falls West at noon Thursday, Aug. 1 in Pierre
Editor’s note: Joran Foss’ name has been corrected from an earlier version of this story.