Post 2 takes 2
Both Fargo Post 2 and Jamestown Post 14 entered Thursday’s Legion baseball doubleheader with clear-cut goals in mind.By: Chris Aarhus, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
- Jamestown Post 14
- Slide into Second
Both Fargo Post 2 and Jamestown Post 14 entered Thursday’s Legion baseball doubleheader with clear-cut goals in mind.
Their place in the standings reflected their play, too.
Fargo clinched the top spot in the statewide standings, using a no-hitter from Casey Quinlan to down Jamestown 10-0 in six innings in the opener. Post 2 came back with a 12-3 victory in the nightcap for the sweep at Jack Brown Stadium.
The win means Post 2 is the top seed at the Class A state tournament Wednesday in Mandan, though Fargo won’t play until the second day.
“The big thing I attribute (to our success) is how hard they work every day for me,” Fargo coach Luke Rustad said. “I talked to them about not getting ahead of themselves. Our goal was to be the No. 1 seed and that goal (was) there. We had a chance to achieve it.”
Jamestown, on the other hand, was hoping to avoid being eighth-seeded out of nine teams by getting a split, which would have moved it up to seventh. Instead, Post 14 plays No. 9 seed Dickinson at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the opening round, and the winner meets Fargo at 11 a.m. Thursday.
“With our hitting, we’ve gone in a slump basically after the (Jamestown) Post 14 tournament,” said Jamestown coach Shane Schoeneberg, whose squad has lost nine in a row to drop to 15-18 overall. “That’s something we need to refocus and re-evaluate. It’s something we need to do better and incorporate into practice. Obviously, the stuff we’re doing isn’t working.”
It was hardly Jamestown’s fault in the first game, as Quinlan mowed down his last 14 hitters. A first-inning walk to Brady Anderson and a free pass to Tyler Ukestad in the second stood as Quinlan’s only blemishes. He finished with seven strikeouts.
“That’s one of the best pitchers you’re gonna see in the state,” Schoeneberg said. “But we needed to make an adjustment. He threw a lot of offspeed with two strikes. It was good offspeed, but we needed to foul it off and get good at-bats.”
Helping Quinlan’s cause was Connor Robley, who finished 3-for-4 with a double and four runs batted in. Four runs in each of the third and sixth innings helped Post 2 take control.
Jamestown’s Joey Gebhardt suffered the loss, lasting three innings and surrendering five runs on eight hits.
In the second game, Jamestown’s offense was less stagnant, but it couldn’t overcome a six-run sixth inning that gave Fargo an 8-1 lead.
Aaron Green and Matt Schalow homered with the latter leading Post 2’s offense. He finished a double short of the cycle and had four RBIs.
Lincoln Voss went six innings for the win, allowing two runs on six hits.
Jamestown’s Riley Schafer took the loss. Post 14 was led at the plate by Kasey Gengler’s 3-for-4 performance.
Even though Fargo, West Fargo and Grand Forks are firmly entrenched at the top of the standings, Schoeneberg said the state’s balance could make for an interesting state tournament. For example, top-seeded Fargo swept bottom-seeded Dickinson in the regular season, but both games were decided by one run.
“It just depends on who shows up that day,” he said. “It’ll come down to pitching and defense and timely hitting.”
Fargo 10, Jamestown 0, 6 innings
Fargo 104 104 — 10 14 0
Jamestown 000 000 — 0 0 4
Casey Quinlan and Joe Hallock. Joey Gebhardt, Danny Fischer (4) and Brady Anderson, Gebhardt (4).
W—Quinlan. L—Gebhardt.
Highlights: F, Quinlan no-hitter, 6 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 walks, 7 Ks, Connor Robley 3-4, 2 R, 2B, 4 RBIs, Gunnar Linstaedt 2-4, 2 RBIs, Hallock 2-3, walk, Lincoln Voss 2-4, Jon Nygard 2-3, walk, 2 R. J, Brady Anderson, walk, Tyler Ukestad, walk.
Fargo 12, Jamestown 3
Fargo 101 603 1 — 12 13 1
Jamestown 100 010 1 — 3 7 2
Lincoln Voss, Isaac Rerich (7) and Joe Hallock. Riley Schafer, Kasey Gengler (5) and Joey Gebhardt.
W—Voss. L—Schafer.
HR—F, Aaron Green, Matt Schalow.
Highlights: F, Schalow 3-4, 3B, 4 RBIs, R, Seth Tollefson 4-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, Gunnar Linstaedt 2-4, 2B, 2R, Jon Nygard 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI. J, Landon Weiser 2-2, walk, Gengler 3-4, RBI.
Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com
Tags: legion baseball, sports, baseball
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