It was hard to tell whether the players, the fans or Jamestown Eagles' head coach Sam Joseph was more excited during the top of the second inning.
"We were having some fun out there," Tommy Falk said with a smile.
There was quite a lot to be excited about.
"They had good at-bats, they walked, they fought to get better counts so I like that," Joseph said. "It was good."
The Eagles swept the visiting Bismarck Senators 9-1 and 12-2 Monday night at Jack Brown Stadium. The doubleheader opened Senior Babe Ruth Class A West Region play. The Eagles now sit at 2-0 in the region and 3-3 on the season. The Senators are 0-2 in the West.
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"I will take the win - those are the little wins that we need," Joseph said. "I knew it was going to be like that just because of the way we've been hitting in the batting cages. They knew that we had to hit and score runs to win this game."
The turnaround was needed by the Eagles as the team had previously split with Dickinson AA and lost a two-game series to Fargo's Post 400 team on June 3.
"We are not going to win games like 2-1 or 3-1 -if we win it's going to be our hitting - we actually have to score more than the other team," Joseph said with a laugh.
The Eagles had no problems scoring more than their opponents.
Recent Jamestown High School grad, Max Anderson, got things moving for the Eagles early in the first. With Jacoby Nold at-bat Anderson took a chance and stole to third sending Falk home to make it a 1-0 game. A hard grounder sent Nold to first and Anderson home. Michael Mahoney and Isaac Mimong each recorded an RBI in the second inning. The Eagles tallied three runs in the first and four in the second making it 7-1 after two.
The Eagles racked up ten hits in the game. Anderson, Chris Erickson, and Mahoney all collected multiple hits for the Eagles with Anderson leading the way with three hits in three at-bats. Anderson also led the team in stolen bases with three.
"We just have to keep hitting like that - plus with good defense and good pitching," Joseph said.
Good pitching was the name of the game for two players out on the field. On the mound in game No. 1, Falk went all seven innings, allowing one run off of four hits and striking out eight batters.
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"I guess I don't throw necessarily the hardest so I kind of just go out and try to go out and compete," Falk said. "Me and Mang (Mimong) were working well tonight. He knew what I wanted and we are good together like that."
Jakob Schempp had his connection on the mound in game No. 2. In five innings Schempp allowed one hit, one run and struck out nine.
"We only used two pitchers and that is good," Joseph said of the talent on the mound. "Our pitchers pitched to contact today. Schempp had a no-hitter going there and the only run was because we had a passed ball but other than that that is what we need to do to win baseball games.
"Once (Falk) got back into his rhythm he was ready to go - he did well. He started off early and often, lots of strikes and he used his defense."
The team will face Minot at Jack Brown on Wednesday. The doubleheader is slated to start at 5 p.m.
Jamestown 12, Bismarck 2
J 340 32X X - 12 10 2
B 100 00X X - 1 1 2
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Highlights: J, Jakob Schmepp 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 9 SO; Michael Mahoney 2-2, 2B, RBI, 3 R; Chris Erickson 2-3, 3 R; Max Anderson 3-3, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 R.
