Mitchell Legion Post 18 finishes runner-up in tourney

FARGO, N.D. — Mitchell Legion Post 18 finished 4-2 over the weekend at the Fargo/Moorhead baseball tournament and took second place, falling 7-4 to Omaha West, Neb., Sunday in Fargo, N.D.

“We know how well we played all weekend, but we’re still disappointed we didn’t win it,” coach Luke Norden said.

Mitchell was tied at 2 with Omaha West in the sixth inning Sunday, but was unable to come away with the victory.

“We gave ourselves a shot for the championship and that was good to see,” Norden said.

Matt Larson was the losing pitcher in the final game, allowing four runs — three earned — on six hits in 5+ innings. He struck out one.

Jared Schmidt was Mitchell’s only player with multiple hits in the title game. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Evan Mastel drew three walks in the game and Michael Sadler walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Jacob Rice went 1-for-1 with a double and two walks.

Norden said he was pleased with his team’s play throughout the tournament, pointing out three consecutive games in which Mitchell did not allow an earned run.

After a 2-0 win on Friday, Mitchell recorded a 5-2 win over Alexandria, Minn., and a 6-0 win against Moorhead, Minn., Saturday to lock up a spot in Sunday’s championship game.

Alexandria’s two runs were unearned runs against Post 18 pitcher Kirby Fuerst. Fuerst allowed four hits in a complete-game effort while striking out three.

Sadler recorded the shutout against Moorhead. He allowed three hits and struck out two.

“The last couple of innings were key for him,” Norden said of Sadler’s performance. “I was looking at taking him out but he got out of a few innings with very few pitches.

“He did a great job of pounding the strike zone.”

Schmidt had a big day offensively for Mitchell on Saturday. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI and three stolen bases in the team’s first game, then was 2-for-2 in the second game and scored three runs.

Lakin Neugebauer and Derek Miller each had two hits in the win over Alexandria.

Sunday started with a 4-1 loss to Millard, Neb. Mitchell had already won its pool and was guaranteed a spot in the championship game.

Ben Miller suffered the loss in his first outing for Post 18. Miller joined the team for the weekend to give Norden more options to use on the mound.

Miller pitched the entire game, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out two.

“He kept guys off-balance and did a great job for us,” Norden said of Miller.

“We just didn’t swing the bats.”

Sadler went 2-for-3 with a double in the loss while Derek Miller was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Norden said he believes his team will use the quality finish from the weekend to gain momentum for the rest of the season.

“It’s always good to beat good opponents and a couple of the wins we had were against very good opponents,” he said. “We didn’t allow them to do much at all with our pitching and hopefully that jump kicks us into the end of the season.”

Post 18 (20-13) takes on Aberdeen in a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Mitchell.

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