Sports
Bottineau gets back on track
Matthew Semisch
07/08/2014
The streak is, at long last, dead.
Bottineau’s American Legion Post 42 baseball team had been on a big roll early this season. After dropping the first game of a season-opening doubleheader with Rolette, Bottineau rattled off eight consecutive wins.
Sadly for Post 42, that winning streak finally came to an end Wednesday. A seven-hour round-trip visit to Watford City proved to be a fruitless one for Bottineau, which was handed a pair of losses, 8-3 and 10-5, in a twin bill.
The losses pushed Post 42’s record on the season down to 8-3. That went up to 9-3 the following day, however, thanks to an 11-1 five-inning win at home over Cando.
WATFORD CITY SWEEPS
Bottineau and Watford City were originally scheduled to meet Wednesday in Washburn. The town on the Missouri River is two and a half hours south of Bottineau, while Watford City would’ve had to travel the same distance from the west.
The games were moved to Watford City, however, due to last week’s heavy rains. This added an hour each way onto Bottineau’s travel plans while Watford City got to enjoy home comforts.
Bottineau ran into trouble early on Wednesday and never really got out of it over the course of the day.
Post 42 pitcher Parker Engelhard scored in the top of the first inning of Game 1, but that slim 1-0 advantage was the only lead the team would hold all game.
Engelhard then struck out Watford City’s lead-off batter in the bottom of the first inning. Things quickly went downhill from there, though, as the hosts’ next two batters both got on base and eventually scored to allow Watford City to open up a 2-1 lead.
That lead was bumped up to 7-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Watford City put another five runs on the board.
Bottineau pulled two runs back in the top of the fourth inning. Post 42 never fully recovered, though, and Watford City posted an eighth run in the bottom of the sixth to round out the scoring.
Post 42 started brighter in Game 2 and held a 2-0 lead after three completed innings. Three Watford City runs in the fourth, though, turned that advantage on its head.
The hosts then went up 4-2 in the fifth inning before batting around its lineup and picking up another five runs in the sixth. A 10th Watford City run in the seventh inning then arrived after Post 42 scored three runs in the top of the frame to try and cut into the deficit.
Post 42 head coach Derek Aus lamented what he felt was a lack of energy from his team on Wednesday.
“That drive’s a bit of a bear, but that’s no excuse to come out with the sort of lack of energy we had,” Aus said. “We had people on base in the first couple innings, which is what you want, but then we left eight runners on in the first four innings of that first game, and it drains you, too, when you aren’t getting those runs in.”
BOTTINEAU CLOBBERS CANDO
Post 42 then got back to its winning ways Thursday. Cando visited the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) Lumberyard ballpark but came away 11-1 losers after a five-inning encounter.
Bottineau leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Two more runs for the hosts came in the bottom of the second inning before Post 42 pushed another three across in the third to open up a 10-0 lead.
Cando kept the game alive in the top of the fifth inning by scoring one run. However, a sacrifice fly from Engelhard in the bottom of the frame drove Ethan McCloud home to invoke the 10-run mercy rule.
Aus came away from Thursday’s game pleased with his team’s ability to bounce back so well against the Bearcats.
“Today I thought we were a lot more aggressive on the base paths than we’d been with Watford,” Aus said, “And that’s what I wanted to see.
“Today was proof that the kids are buying more and more into the sort of baseball we want to play here, and it’s working out when they’re doing what we’re trying to do.”
Post 42 is now in the middle of a four-game week. Velva came to Bottineau on Monday evening before Post 42’s trip to Makoti on Tuesday. Bottineau will host Washburn on Saturday before traveling to Beulah for a doubleheader on Sunday.