Sports

Lumberjacks improving despite struggles

By Matthew Semisch

04/21/2015

A year ago, Dakota College at Bottineau’s (DCB) baseball team caught fire at just the right time.

The Lumberjacks finished their 2014 season with a record of 5-23. Two of those five wins came at last year’s Region XIII tournament in Williston, however, leaving the Jacks just shy of a spot in the NJCAA North Plains District finals.

DCB’s team improved as last season went on up until the regional tourney. This year, Jacks head coach Dano Fagerlund is hoping something similar happens again.

The Jacks are nearing the end of an eight-day stretch in which, at its end, DCB will have played 12 games. From the first 10 of that dozen - eight of which were played last week - the Jacks won two.

Both wins came last Wednesday on the road at Lake Region State. Just 24 hours after the Royals swept DCB 8-5 and 5-4 in Bottineau, the Jacks downed LRSC 10-4 and 20-5 in a doubleheader in Devils Lake.

Nick Riglin went the distance on the mound in the 10-4 Game 1 win on Wednesday. He finished the game with four strikeouts and as many earned runs.

DCB scored 10 runs on nine hits. The Jacks were led offensively by outfielder Isaac Madrid, who finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate and batted in a pair of runs while scoring twice himself.

DCB kept its momentum going in Game 2 by scoring seven runs in both the second and sixth innings en route to the win. Shortstop Tanner Mundahl batted a perfect 3-for-3 in the game, drove in two DCB runs and scored three more of his own.

Cody Newberry pitched a complete game for the Jacks in Wednesday’s rematch, striking out three Royals batters in the process.

DCB quickly fell back to earth after that sweep of LRSC, however. Bismarck State visited Bottineau on Saturday and swept the Jacks 9-1 and 15-8 before doing the same in Bismarck on Sunday by counts of 7-0 and 13-1.

Despite the struggles, Fagerlund believes his team is improving. He also suggested that no team in the Mon-Dak Conference is taking DCB lightly.

“We’re better than our record,” he said, “and if you’re a bad team, you’re going to sneak out some wins but as an above-average team. That’s where we’re at; teams know that they’re going to have to play their best ball against us.”

DCB (3-19) will host LRSC again in a doubleheader on Wednesday for the Jacks’ final two home games of the season.