Gebhardt fires gem: Jamestown wins state-tournament opener
In the first state tournament start of his life, Joey Gebhardt acted more like a seasoned veteran than a 16-year-old up-and-comer.By: By Chris Aarhus, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
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MANDAN — In the first state tournament start of his life, Joey Gebhardt acted more like a seasoned veteran than a 16-year-old up-and-comer.
The Jamestown Post 14 pitcher’s steady performance, coupled with a two-run double from Jake Stilwell in the sixth inning, made all the difference in their 2-1 win over bottom-seeded Dickinson at the Class A state Legion tournament Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Ballpark.
“I felt pretty good,” Gebhardt said. “The defense made a lot of plays and (catcher Brady Anderson) called a good game behind the plate.”
Jamestown (16-18), seeded eighth, meets top seed Fargo at 11 a.m. today, while Dickinson squares off against Bismarck at 2 p.m.
Gebhardt only struck out four, but Dickinson struggled to hit the ball to the gaps. He went all nine innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while walking three and hitting one. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until Korey Kallenbach singled to center field.
“Got to give him credit,” Schoeneberg said. “Joey’s got a strong arm. It’s him being confident.”
Trailing 2-0, Jamestown had only two hits until the sixth inning when Dickinson starter Sean Kelly issued a one-out walk to Danny Fischer. Anderson reached on error and Kasey Gengler followed with a shallow single to load the bases for Stilwell, who drilled a double to the left-center field gap to score two.
Gebhardt said he wasn’t worried about lack of offense.
“We’ve got a lot of good hitters,” Gebhardt said. “I was pretty sure we were gonna get some runs.”
The score held firm, as Dickinson pitching didn’t fare bad, either. Jamestown finished with only four hits thanks to the performance of Kelly, who went seven innings and gave up one earned run. He walked three and struck out five.
“This is how we played all year,” Dickinson coach Cory Hansen said. “We play really good defense, pitch well and we can’t get a timely hit to save our rear end.”
Dickinson’s only run came in the third, when Dylan Skabo reached on a walk, went to second base on a passed ball, was sacrificed over to third and scored on a Taylor Kraenzel groundout. The run, which came without a base hit, gave the Roughriders an early advantage.
“I didn’t think it would hold up, but I thought we’d have another opportunity and it never came,” Hansen said. “I don’t know what to do or how to get a base hit. I’m just really befuddled.
“I feel bad for them. They played well enough to win.”
For Jamestown, however, it was a much-needed victory. The high school team was seeded fourth in the West Region tournament last spring and went two and out. Eight of Post 14’s nine starters played on that team.
“It’s nice to get the first one out of the way and get a win,” Schoeneberg said.
State tournament at Mandan
Jamestown 2, Dickinson 1
Dickinson 000 100 000 — 1 4 1
Jamestown 000 002 00x — 2 4 0
Sean Kelly, Korey Kallenbach (8) and Brady Dutchak. Joey Gebhardt and Brady Anderson.
W—Gebhardt. L—Kelly.
Highlights: D, Kelly 7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 walks, 5 K, James Kary 2-3, walk, Luke Herauf 1-2, walk. J, Gebhardt 9 IP, R, ER, 4 H, 3 walks, HB, 4 K, Jake Stilwell 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, Anderson 1-3, R, Shaun Hogan 1-3, Kasey Gengler 1-3, HBP.
Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com
Tags: sports, legion, baseball
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