YANKTON-Fueled by 16 hits, the Mitchell Post 18 Legion baseball team opened its season with a 13-9 win over Yankton Post 12 on Wednesday in Yankton.
Mitchell scored in five different innings and opened the game with a 6-0 lead after the top of the third inning.
"We had some big innings but we also chipped away in a couple of innings with one run," Post 18 head coach Luke Norden said. "It was good to get a lot of at-bats because we worked hard every inning."
Post 18 also had eight stolen bases in the contest and was only caught stealing twice.
"We got guys in scoring position, which really helped out," Norden said. "It turned a lot of singles into doubles, keeping us out of the double play."
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Spencer Neugebauer and Bryce Geraets each led Mitchell with three hits, while Elijah Pommer, Jed Schmidt, Drew Kitchens and Sam Michels each finished with two hits.
Neugebauer had two doubles and three RBIs, while Geraets had four RBIs and a home run.
"He was able to put a good swing after a couple guys worked hard to get on base with two outs," Norden said about Gerates' home run. "We did a really good job hitting with two outs."
Pommer and Kitchens each had a double and an RBI in the win.
On the mound, Baley Miller picked up the win in relief of starting pitcher Jared Miller. Baley Miller allowed four runs off three hits in 2 and 1/3 innings pitched. In total, Post 18 had four pitchers throw at least one inning in the contest.
"We did struggle with throwing strikes," said Norden, who pointed out Mitchell pitchers combined for 11 walks. "We threw more pitches than we should of, but our pitchers did a good job of working out of some jams. We just need to get the ball in the strike zone a little more."
Mitchell finished the game with one errors and seven runners left on base, while Yankton had nine hits, one error and 14 runners left on base.
Yankton's Jordan Kathol took the loss for Post 12. Kathol allowed seven runs, one earned, off six hits in five innings pitched.
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Post 18 (1-0) plays Rapid City Post 22 in a doubleheader on Friday in Rapid City.
"We're going to have to play well this weekend," Norden said. "We'll have to pitch the ball better than we did tonight, but we want to start building some consistency with our bats."
