Pushing on: Jamestown, Hazen-Beulah advance to today’s semis

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When Levi Gaunska is on the mound, two things are likely to happen for the Jamestown Greyhounds: a win and with little time wasted.

The Jametown right-hander won his third straight Class A state tournament outing, helping the Hounds to a 4-3 win over the Fargo Mets on Wednesday night.

Jamestown, the defending Class A champion, moved back into the semifinals where it plays Hazen-Beulah at 7:30 p.m. today.

Hazen-Beulah defeated Central Plains 5-2 in the second game at Jack Brown Stadium.

Tolna and LaMoure will play the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m.

Jamestown 4, Fargo 3

Gaunska, last year's Class A MVP, worked around 10 hits as the Hounds got an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth and made it stick in the 85-minute contest.

Tied 3-all, Mets shortstop T.J. Hopkins had a couple snake-bitten minutes with two errors in the span of two batters which led directly to Justin Connell singling home Danny Fischer with the go-ahead run.

Fargo had tied it with a 2-run top of the fourth inning as John Schmidt had an RBI single followed by T.J. Hopkins' run-scoring double.

The Mets outhit Jamestown 10-4. Schmidt, Hopkins and Charles Poncelet were each 3-for-4.

Offense was scarce for the Hounds off Fargo pitcher Mike Hanson. They got three runs in the bottom of the first, but nothing else until the fifth.

Connell had two hits for the Hounds, including a run-scoring single in the first to go along with the game-winner in the fifth.

Hazen-Beulah 5,

Central Plains 2

Dennis Samuels has been playing organized baseball for over 50 years, but he’s still got it.

The 60-year-old Hazen-Beulah veteran singled home the go-ahead run for the Blackjaws in bottom of the fourth inning as they advanced to the Class A semifinals with a 5-2 win over Central Plains.

Samuels, who was inducted in the North Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, plated Brett Schreiner in the bottom of the fourth to break a 1-all tie.

Beulah-Hazen added three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth, which did come in handy as Central Plains rallied for a run in the seventh and brought the tying run to the plate before Eric Eberle extinguished the rally to notch the save.

The Blackjaws had just four hits, but they drew five walks and had four hit batsmen.

The game was errorless until the bottom of the sixth when Central Plains committed three consecutive errors, and combined with a wild pitch, led to three unearned runs.

The Coyotes had six hits, including a booming double by longtime vet Jerome Short in the bottom of the second inning that scored Lester Wright to tie the game at 1-1.

Hazen-Beulah pitcher Travis Famias worked into the sixth inning to get the win. He struck out nine Central Plains batters and allowed just five hits.

Jamestown Greyhounds 4, Fargo Mets 3

Fargo 001 200 0 — 3 10 3

Jamestown 300 010 x — 4 6 0

Mike Hanson and Matt Peck. Levi Gaunska and Justin Connell. W-Gaunska L-Hanson. 2B-Fargo, T.J. Hopkins, Matt Peck.

Beulah-Hazen Blackjaws 5,

Central Plains Coyotes 2

Central Plains 010 000 1 — 2 6 3

Hazen-Beulah 100 103 x — 5 4 0

Derek Briss and Preston Hoffman, Shane Wallace (5). Travis Famias, Kirk Sailer (6), Eric Eberle (7) and Ben Schafer. W—Famias. L—Briss. Save—Eberle. 2B—Central Plains, Jerome Short. Beulah-Hazen, T.J. Herman.

Tags: sports, amateur, baseball