Sports

Jamestown bound: Braves down Lions for state trip

By Tyler Ohmann

05/29/2012

Will a third time be a charm?

That is what the Bottineau Braves hope as they are headed to state for the third consecutive year after downing Bishop Ryan in the Region 5 title game last Thursday.

The Lions forced the second championship game after handing the Braves their first region loss of the season in Tuesday’s first title shot for Bottineau.

“They didn’t let the loss on Tuesday bother them too much, and immediately after the loss on Tuesday LaCroix’s focus was today,” Bottineau Head Coach Nate Simpson said. “He was pumped and ready to go for today, and it showed. He stepped up in a huge way.”

That readiness came in the way of a huge performance for LaCroix, who, following Tuesday’s loss, was named the region’s Senior Athlete of the Year.

LaCroix earned the win on the hill recovering from an early two-run bomb from the Lions’ Mason Kramer to not allow another hit, strike out nine batters and go 2-for-4 at the plate with four runs batted in (RBI), including a game-tying two-run homer in the third inning.

“Pitching and hitting, what can I say, what a way to make a statement coming out as the senior athlete of the year,” Simpson said of LaCroix.

Fellow senior Justin McCloud stepped up too, hitting the eventual game-winning home run in the fifth inning.

“Mark’s home run tied it up and made it almost like we were starting over,” McCloud said. “Then he (Jay Mittlieder) just gave me a pitch right down the pipe and I hit it over, after that I knew the game was ours.”

LaCroix put the game out of hand in the top of the seventh, with a two-run double that gave the Braves some insurance.

McCloud had another important dinger early in the tournament as well, as he hit a walk-off, two-run shot to beat Rugby in the first round on Monday. As to where the power came from, McCloud said it all came down to practice and confidence.

“Just hitting off the tee and taking a lot of batting practice,” McCloud said. “Also knowing there is a short fence out there gives you a little more confidence and that if you just get it up in the air it is more likely to go out.”

Simpson was not surprised that it was the seniors that stepped up when the trip to state was on the line.

“Like I told the guys, the seniors won the game for us today,” Simpson said. “We jumped on their back, but everybody made plays and did their part, we weren’t going to let the seniors go down with a loss.”

Lead-off hitter Andrew Hill, a sophomore, made some noise as well, scoring three times in the game and going 3-for-4 with two doubles.

Mittlieder took the loss on the mound for the Lions.

“There was a little bit of pressure and there always is if you are a number one seed, because you’re supposed to go, and if you don’t it is an upset,” McCloud said. “We came around (today) after that game Tuesday, which was tough, Mark came out and threw some pitches, and we played defense.”

First taste of defeat

The Braves did taste their first morsel of region defeat though on Tuesday, as the Lions team forced that second championship with a 6-3 win.

Bottineau took a 2-1 lead after four innings, and looked to be on their way to state, but the Lions had different plans as they knocked McCloud out of the game, scoring five times in the fifth inning to take a 6-2 lead.

Bottineau would score once more, but the Lions did their job. Sheldon Marmon got the win after relieving Austin Eggl, who reached his inning limit after pitching three scoreless innings to start the game.

Marmon was also a hero at the dish smacking a two-RBI hit in the fifth to break the game open.
Ging Martin led the Braves at the plate with a 2-for-3 day and two RBI.

“During the regular season we beat the teams pretty convincingly, but we knew coming in that the teams know it is the end of the season, so they play a little tougher, especially against us, the one seed,” McCloud said.

That was also true of Monday’s final game, which put Bottineau in the title spot.

The Braves opened up a big lead against third-seeded North Star with a six-run fifth inning, but in an effort to save McCloud’s arm, Simpson pulled him and put Cody Brooks on the mound.

After a rough couple of batters, Brooks was taken out for freshman Brock Hiltner. The pair gave up five runs in the final two innings, but Bottineau held on to win 10-7.

Brooks and McCloud each hit home runs in the win. McCloud went five innings on the mound, striking out eight. LaCroix went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Make a ‘state’ment

After seventh and fifth place finishes respectively the past two seasons at the state tournament, the Braves hope to make some go even farther this third time around at state in Jamestown.

“Especially the first year it was a learning experience and Bottineau baseball was just coming around,” McCloud. “Now three years making it, we expect to do big things and our goal is to win the state tournament.”

In the prior two tournament’s Simpson said the first game was what held them back from the title. He said it will not happen this time.

“We have to focus on that first game, we’ve gone down there the last two years and haven’t done well that first game,” Simpson said. “We beat ourselves the last two years in that first game. We aren’t going to let that happen this year.”

“We are going to go down focused and get in the winners bracket and make some noise down there,” Simpson added.

In the Brave region title win on Thursday, seven of Bottineau’s 10 hits and all of their runs were accounted for by the first three hitters of their order. Simpson said that the bottom of the lineup will need to step up at state, if they want to win.

“They have to help us out a little more, and they will,” Simpson said. “If we can manufacture one run out of the bottom of the lineup per game, that is awesome.”

The bottom of the lineup had previously been a big help to the Braves, who struggled to score runs last season, but have not this year.

“They have been a great asset to us all year, and I have nine guys who I have confidence in that they can hit the ball,” Simpson said. “I even have two or three guys on the bench that I’m not afraid to throw in there.”

“We’re going to hit one through nine, and if we do that at state, we are going to win some games,” Simpson said.

The Braves play in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in Jamestown. They will play Region 8 winner Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton. The two teams met on May 12 with WWCS earning an 8-4 victory.