Sports
Braves enjoy solid week leading into regions
Tyler Ohmann
05/14/2013
The Bottineau Braves baseball season took a turn for the better this past week as they dispatched three opponents in an unblemished week.
The week began with a 5-2 win over region foe Rolette-Rolla-Wolford (RRW), continued with a 16-0 five-inning win over Dunseith and finished with another 11-0 mercy ending over Belcourt.
First last Tuesday Bottineau won their first game of the season with a hard-fought victory over Region 5 opponent RRW.
The Braves struck early scoring three runs in the first two innings. That would prove to be enough as sophomore Luke Amsbaugh was strong on the mound. Bottineau would add two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh to secure a 5-2 win.
“We had Luke (Amsbaugh) come back and throw well for us, and we made plays behind him, so that was key,” said Braves head coach Nate Simpson. “We left a lot of guys on base, but we got enough guys across to win the game.”
Andrew Hill led the offense with a 2-for-3 day a double and a run batted in (RBI).
Simpson said it was the first time that Bottineau was able to put it all together this season.
“Rolette was the first time we played all three phases of the game at the same time,” Simpson said. “We pitched, we played defense and we hit the ball. It was a nice game to get things rolling for us.”
Bottineau continued that roll as they hosted Dunseith in another region bout.
This one would go more smoothly as the Braves easily dispatched the visiting Dragons in five innings 16-0 on Thursday.
Bottineau scored six in the first and eight in the second off of Dunseith starter Devon Bercier. In total Bottineau tallied nine hits and the Dragons had six errors.
Garrett Lynnes earned the victory on the mound, pitching a nearly flawless game.
“It was the same thing with Dunseith. We had kids that threw strikes,” Simpson said. “Garrett Lynnes came in and pitched a heck of a game for us and we had kids that put the ball in play, and we forced them on their heels a little bit.”
Hill again was strong at the plate as he was 1-for-2 with another RBI double. Also getting in on the action were Amsbaugh (1-for-2, two RBI), senior Kevin Graber (1-for-3, triple, three RBI) and Casey Tooke (1-for-1, two RBI).
The win streak was extended to three games as Bottineau ended the battle of the Braves against Belcourt swiftly with an 11-0 mercy win.
Andrew Hill was dominate on the hill for Bottineau and went the distance without allowing a run.
“Against Belcourt it was good to get Andrew (Hill) on the mound, because I’m not sure when he’ll see his next action,” Simpson said. “He came in and threw about as well as he’s thrown all year.”
Simpson is pleased with how the team played this past week, especially on the mound.
“The pitchers are coming around for us, defense is catching up and the bats have been fairly decent for how young we are,” Simpson said. “I like the way we’re playing right now.”
The only concern for Simpson is defense as the Region 5 Tournament looms this weekend and a chance for a fourth straight state berth is on the line.
“We need continued pitching, and we’re going to need big games out of Lee (Schneider) and Andrew (Hill) and I think we’ll get them,” Simpson said. “We have to pick it up defensively a little bit. That’s the one area where I have a little concern right now is our defense.”
However, Bottineau (3-4) will have to earn their way to that region tournament. They will likely play a play-in game against RRW on Thursday in Bottineau.
“They’ve seen us, we’ve seen them, and it was a close game so we’re going to have to play well,” Simpson said.
Bottineau also played a game in Cando against North Star last night, but scores and stats were unavailable by press time.