Hintz delivers for Beulah
Karson Hintz had a chance at redemption, and he made sure there was contact. The junior leadoff hitter from Beulah High School followed a pair of strikeouts with a run-scoring triple in the fifth inning that proved to be the winning run in a 6-1 victory over Lewis & Clark in a Class B state baseball tournament semifinal Friday at Jack Brown Stadium.By: By Chris Aarhus, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
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Karson Hintz had a chance at redemption, and he made sure there was contact.
The junior leadoff hitter from Beulah High School followed a pair of strikeouts with a run-scoring triple in the fifth inning that proved to be the winning run in a 6-1 victory over Lewis & Clark in a Class B state baseball tournament semifinal Friday at Jack Brown Stadium.
“I knew I was getting my pitch to hit; I just missed it,” Hintz said. “I had to come back and keep swinging and get my team a big run.”
In its first-ever trip to state, Beulah (26-5) punched its ticket to the championship game, where it meets Grafton at around 7 p.m. today.
“We have a ton of team chemistry,” said Hintz, who played on the school’s championship boys basketball team. “The coaches push us and keep us going. Here we are, hoping to get it done.”
Lewis & Clark, a consolidated district made up of Berthold and North Shore High Schools, had a hard time solving Beulah pitcher Patrick Becker (4-1), who gave up six hits in the complete-game victory. He didn’t walk a batter, striking out five with a total pitch count of 99.
“He’s been really consistent all year,” Hintz said.
Tanner Dolbec’s single to left field scored Brett Koch in the third inning to give the Miners an early lead. Hintz’s three-bagger extended the advantage, and Cam Sadowsky’s RBI single to center field plated Cody Nelson in the sixth inning. Becker’s RBI double highlighted a three-run seventh.
“We have a lot of power and a lot of speed,” said Hintz, whose team stole seven bases. “Once we get on base, we make teams pay for it.”
The Wildcats (14-5) were offensively challenged for the second straight night, though they played well enough to beat defending state champion Kindred-Richland 2-1 on Thursday. No. 8 hitter Aaron Schenfish had three hits to lead Lewis & Clark, which scored its only run in the seventh inning, when it stranded runners on second and third.
Wildcats freshman Austin Lee (4-2) was tagged for six runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“In the regional tournament, we scored a lot of runs, but this is state competition,” said Lewis & Clark coach Brian Nelson, whose team meets Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton for third place at 4:30 p.m. “Everybody’s got one or two No. 1 pitchers.”
Beulah 6, Lewis and Clark 1
Beulah 001 011 3 — 6 9 3
Lewis & Clark 000 000 1 — 1 6 5
Patrick Becker and Dalton Oliger. Austin Lee, Brandin Langan (7) and Tristan Gray.W—Becker (4-1). L—Austin Lee (4-2).
Highlights: B, Becker 7 IP, 6 H, R, 0 ER, 0 walks, 5 K, 1-4, RBI, R, Cody Nelson 2-4, Cameron Sadowsky 2-3, Tanner Dolbect 2-3. LC, Aaron Schenfish 3-3, R.
Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com
Tags: class b, sports, baseball
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