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JAMESTOWN —The West Fargo Sheyenne Mustangs had one goal in mind heading into the 2022 NDHSAA State Tournament, repeat. The team is now one win away after taking down the Minot Magicians 2-0 in the state semifinals. The Mustangs’ Caleb Duerr went six innings with eight strikeouts and six hits in the win.
"I got in a groove early I think, dealt with some rough innings to start but got it going later on, middle innings and kept it going from there," Duerr said.
The Mustangs opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Grant Warkenthein hit a double just over the left fielder’s head to score Evan Berg and make it a 1-0 game. Later in the inning, the Mustangs’ Trey Stocker got thrown out for drawing a line in the dirt after a called third strike in the third inning.
"Uncharacteristic for him," Mustangs head coach Ryan Bodell said. "I never would've guessed he would do something like that. He knows it wasn't good for him. He showed up the umpire and we got no defense against that. He can't do that, he's a young kid, he made one mistake today and hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt us."
The Mustangs added to their lead in the third when Casey Clemenson hit a single to right to score Gustafson and make it a 2-0 game.
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The Magicians did not go down without a fight though as they loaded the bases in the fifth but failed to score and cut into the deficit, when Tyler Collins grounded out to the shortstop Brennan Haman.
"I thought we played a very good game. They beat us 2-0," Magicians head coach Pete Stenberg said. "They scored one run in the second, one run in the third. I don't think that's a slow start. I think we went out there and put pressure on them. We had opportunities to win that ballgame when we had runners on base and we didn't come through. I thought we played a very solid ballgame and Carson Deaver did a heck of a job for us. He's a freshman, we're going to see a lot more of him to come."
The Mustangs return to the diamond at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, when they take on Shanley in the state title game. The Magicians attempt to finish third at 1:15 p.m. on June 4, when they face Dickinson.
"Tomorrow's the big one. Like I said yesterday, we have those eight seniors that were with us last year that felt that intensity in the championship game last year," Bodell said. "I think they'll be alright. We just have to take another step forward tomorrow. Shanley's a great team. We know they're going to battle. We know they're gonna be scrappy, make us earn it. So we gotta go get it tomorrow. "
MHS 0, WFS 2
MHS: 0 0 0 0 0 0–0 6 0
WFS: 0 1 1 0 0 0 X—2 8 1
WP: Caleb Duerr LP: Carson Deaver
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Full Bracket below:
06/02
G1: W1 Bismarck Century 1, E4 Shanley 4
G2: E2 Wahpeton 3, W3 Dickinson 6
G3: W2 Minot 10, E3 Fargo North 5,
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G4: E1 West Fargo Sheyenne 10 W4 Jamestown 3
06/03
G5: W1 Bismarck Century 3, E2 Wahpeton 1
G6: E3 Fargo North 3, W4 Jamestown 4
G7: E4 Shanley 5 W3 Dickinson 2
G8: W2 Minot 0, W4 West Fargo Sheyenne 2
06/04
G10: W1 Bismarck Century vs. W4 Jamestown, 11:30 a.m.
G11: W3 Dickinson vs. W2 Minot, 1:15 p.m.
G12: E4 Shanley vs. E1 West Fargo Sheyenne, 4:30 p.m.
