Sports
Bottineau 5-0
Matthew Semisch
06/24/2014
Bottineau’s American Legion baseball team continued last week its hot start to the 2014 season by picking up five wins in a row.
Post 42 was looking at a very busy week in which it had scheduled seven games. Two of them, which would have come during a doubleheader against Makoti at home on Thursday afternoon, was called off due to rain.
Five other games on Bottineau’s schedule last week went ahead, though, and Post 42 won all five.
After a perfect week results-wise, Bottineau bumped its overall record this season to 6-1.
Post 42’s week began Monday with a doubleheader at Cando. Bottineau came away with victories in both games by counts of 6-1 in Game 1 and 11-3 in the rematch.
In the first game, Bottineau opened up a healthy lead almost immediately and never let go. Catcher Andrew Hill, shortstop Parker Engelhard and pitcher Lee Schneider, Post 42’s first three batters up in the game, all scored in the first inning.
The Bearcats answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first frame, but it never got any better for the hosts after that.
Bottineau added three more insurance runs in the top of the fourth inning through Hill, Engelhard and Casey Tooke to effectively put the contest to rest.
Bottineau arguably looked even better in the rematch. Post 42 held a relatively slim 2-0 lead going into the top of the third inning before drilling Cando for five runs in that frame, three more in the fifth and another in the sixth for good measure.
Hill led Bottineau at the plate against the Bearcats by going 8-for-8 in those two games. Engelhard came up big on offense, too, rattling off five base hits against Cando while also scoring three runs.
Hill then took the mound Wednesday in Velva and made big contributions with both his right arm and his bat.
The Minnesota State-Fergus Falls recruit was named the winning pitcher in a 10-2 victory over Velva after allowing just one hit in five innings pitched.
He also came up huge with his bat, too, especially when leading Post 42 off in the top of the first inning by sending the third pitch of the game over the right-field wall to give the visitors an almost instant lead.
Hill went deep again in the third inning with his second home run in as many at-bats.
The game was later called during the seventh inning after lightning flashed in the Velva area.
Bottineau was next in action Saturday in the Bob Pugh Memorial Tournament at Dakota College at Bottineau. Post 42 won its home tournament last year thanks to wins against Renville County and Garrison, so Bottineau was looking to come up victorious at its event at the Lumberyard yet again.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday after Post 42 dispatched both Langdon and Garrison.
Bottineau opened tournament play in unseasonably hot conditions Saturday morning. Post 42 eked out a 6-5 win there in an eight-inning game in which the two teams combined to leave 26 potential runs on-base.
Post 42 experienced smoother sailing later on against Garrison, jumping out to an 11-lead after two innings before eventually winning by a 14-4 count.
“We’re playing really good baseball at the moment,” Post 42 head coach Derek Aus said.
“Our guys are capable of playing with any team when they’re playing well, and I hope that we continue to see them developing over the summer because it’s been an excellent start here early on for us.”