Sports

Braves sweep Turtle Mountain before dropping three straight

By Matthew Semisch

05/13/2014

The Braves started the new week off well by sweeping a home doubleheader against Turtle Mountain Community on Monday.

The two games against TMCHS marked the start of a scheduled eight-game homestand for Bottineau, and 7-1 and 13-5 wins over the visitors were just about exactly what BHS head coach Zach Keller was looking for.

“We’re starting to play good team baseball,” Keller said. “I was telling the guys that we need to be ready to play two games or more in a day here and do whatever it takes, and I think they’re starting to take home on that.

“We’re getting closer to tournament time and have a big week ahead of us here, and hopefully this gets us rolling toward our region play again.”

Both of these games were scheduled to only go five innings, and it wasn’t until late in the first clash that Bottineau really opened up some daylight between itself and Turtle Mountain.

Only up 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, the Braves pushed four runs across in that penultimate frame. Bottineau then held its visitors scoreless in the top of the final inning to end the game.

Brody Moum went the distance on the mound for Bottineau, striking out six Turtle Mountain batters and only walking three.

BHS lead-off batter Andrew Hill also had a big day, going two-for-three and reaching base every time up.

Although Turtle Mountain’s first two batters up in the second game scored, Bottineau responded very well with a seven-run reply in the bottom half of the frame. Six of those runs were unearned as two TMCHS pitchers struggled early on.

Another five runs were then pushed across by the Braves in the second inning to extend the hosts’ lead to 12-2.

Turtle Mountain scored three runs in the third inning on two base hits and a walk. The damage had clearly already been done, though, and a 13th run of the game from Bottineau in the bottom half of that frame compounded the visitors’ misery.

The top seven batters in the Braves’ nine-man order all scored in the game. Austin Kittleson led the way at the dish by going two-for-three, reaching first base a third time on a defensive error and once each in the first, second and third innings.

Casey Tooke was the winning pitcher in a game in which the freshman struck out five Turtle Mountain batters.

The win was Bottineau’s fourth in a row. The Braves had also pulled off a doubleheader sweep the previous Saturday on the road at Grafton.

COMETS SWEEP BHS

Unfortunately for Bottineau, though, that was where its winning streak ended. The next day, Region V rival Northern Lights came to town and knocked the Braves off the perch they’d built for themselves over the previous 72 hours.

The first of two seven-inning games against the Comets ended up going 13.

Neither team scored in the first five extra innings in what had been a 6-6 game. When three Bottineau fielders failed to call for a pop fly in the top of the 13th frame, however, Northern Lights scored what stood up as the game-winning run in a game that lasted three hours and 30 minutes.

Hill and pitcher Parker players in the game. Hill went two-for-three and accounted for half his team’s runs in the game, while Engelhard threw for seven innings and struck out eight Comets batters.

DAY 1 OF GAME 2

The second game started an hour later than originally scheduled, thus fueling concerns that a second seven-inning tilt might not be doable as the Lumberyard doesn’t have floodlights. It did go ahead, however, for five frames, with the teams playing to what at that point was a 5-5 tie.

The Braves headed into the bottom of the fifth inning - Northern Lights was named the home team in the second game of the doubleheader - with a 5-2 lead. That advantage was erased, though, by three runs scored by the Comets in the final half-inning of the day.

Luke Amsbaugh struck out four Northern Lights batters in five innings pitched in that second game. He’d also hit the mound in Game 1, striking out two Comets in the final two innings of that contest.

Engelhard scored twice in the second game of the twin bill with the Comets, while Amsbaugh also contributed with his bat by earning a pair of base hits.

Untimely defensive mistakes in the two games ultimately left Keller feeling somewhat frustrated, but he was pleased with his team’s ability to keep its collective head down and try and keep powering ahead.

If that particular trait from the Braves sticks around and the team can clean up some of its fielding issues, Keller said, he would feel pretty good about the team’s chances over the rest of the season.

“We made a few errors today,” Keller said, “But I’ve got to give our team credit for the way they kept fighting. I’ve been preaching that mindset all year and saying that we can’t lay down, and even though a couple of bounces didn’t go our way today, we kept going.

“I just told the guys we need to clean up our fielding a little bit, and I think we’ll be fine if we can just do that. I thought the pitchers have done really well these last couple of days, so if we can just shore up our defense a little bit, we’ll be good to go.”

GAME ON

That second game eventually finished Friday in Rolette. Rugby was scheduled to play Northern Lights on the road that afternoon at Rolette’s field, and Bottineau and Northern Lights finished their previous game before the Comets and Panthers clashed in their regularly-scheduled meeting.

The Comets took the momentum from the 5-5 tie they’d previously forged against the Braves and came away 8-7 winners on Friday. Bottineau scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning Friday, but two defensive errors in the bottom half of the frame led to three Northern Lights runs that eventually won the Comets the game.

PANTHERS' BATS STYMIE BRAVES

Bottineau was then back home on Saturday to play Rugby. Saturday’s matinee was a solid back-and-forth affair, but the Braves eventually wound up on the wrong side of a high-scoring game that finished 20-12 to the Panthers.

The Braves opened the scoring with a lone run in the bottom of the second inning before Rugby scored four in both the third and fourth frames. Bottineau scored seven in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-8 lead after also having scored one run in the third, but another four Rugby runs in the sixth inning and an eight-run outburst in the eighth spelled doom for the Braves.

Bottineau had two defensive errors in the game, and those plus 23 base hits for Rugby made life difficult for the hosts.

Keller liked his team’s ability to keep fighting and not let its collective head down. However, he also lamented the Braves’ fielding issues that again popped up against the Panthers.

“It was a hard-fought game, but once again we had a couple errors that cost us a few runs,” Keller said. “I’ve got to give credit to my guys, though, for the way they kept fighting. We tagged Rugby for seven runs in that one inning, and I’ve got to give us a lot of credit for fighting back.

“I’ve also got to tip my hat to Rugby, because they did a heck of a job hitting the ball.”

The Braves’ final regular-season game against North Star on Monday ended after press time.

Bottineau will then play in a Region V play-in game Thursday against an opponent yet to be determined.