Opinion corner: Post 14’s finish not so bad

Talk about it

The Jamestown Post 14 Legion baseball team lost 11 of its final 12 games.

It came to an end with a ninth-inning rally from Minot that seemed to epitomize Jamestown baseball in 2012.

So close, just not enough.

The high school squad swept the Minot Magicians during the regular season, only to fall to them in the opening round of the West Region tournament. Jamestown was seeded fourth, yet it lost both games at the regional and was eliminated.

Being seeded fourth means that you’re expected to get to state, though it’s worth noting that the West Region was so balanced, there was hardly a distinction between the top and bottom. Only one of the top four seeds made the state tournament.

But the Legion season was different.

Jamestown put up as much of a fight as it did all year, finishing 1-2 at state last weekend in Mandan. But it wasn’t like the high school season, when the Blue Jays were far less competitive at state.

This time around, every game was highly contested. It was certainly fun to watch, as I heard a few different people in the stands claim. Jamestown was a big part of the show, outdueling Dickinson 2-1 on the first day and battling top-seeded Fargo to an eventual 5-1 loss, a game that was even closer than the four-run deficit indicates.

And maybe it was a rough ending for Post 14’s players. Surely, they didn’t want their season to be over, evident by the 2-1 advantage they held over Minot until the bottom of the ninth.

But a few balls hit to the fence plated two runs. Jamestown’s players and coaches have every right to feel that empty feeling, because they know they played well enough to continue at the tournament. It just didn’t happen for them.

Still, if we’re judging baseball by how much fun you had — a prerequisite for all baseball games — then Jamestown should be overjoyed. You were seeded eighth out of nine teams. You went toe to toe with Fargo and nearly beat Minot for the third time this season. Fargo ended up losing to West Fargo in the state championship game, and Minot finished in the top four.

That’s a good ending in my book.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701)

952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, legion, baseball