The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Carrington Post 25 pitcher Kael Kovar lets the ball fly from his fingertips towards a Jamestown Hawk batter. Kovar did not allow a hit during his time on the hill, and got the win, 10-0, over the Hawks in the District 4 first round at Jack Brown Stadium.
Leadoff hitter Jack Erickson follows through with his swing in the District 4 opener against the Jamestown Hawks.
Noah Paulson has a look of determination on his face as he hustles down the first base line.
Third baseman Hudson Schmitz fires on-target to first base for a putout. Schmitz got the win on the hill against Ashley/Linton/Wishek, 2-1, with a solid performance.
Grady Shipman connected on a two-run home run for Post 25 in their opening victory over the Jamestown Hawks.
The regular season record might not be the greatest, but you can almost set your watch to Carrington Post 25's annual postseason run through district play.
The American Legion Redbirds, seeded third going into the District 4 Tournament at Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown, snuck up on the two seeds ahead of them over three days of play July 18-20, and put themselves in prime position to advance once again to the Class B Tournament last Thursday.
Game one went to Carrington over the sixth-seeded Jamestown Post 14 Hawks, 10-0, in six innings, in sweltering, 95-plus degree heat at the ballpark that kept the liquids flowing.
Post 25 turned to righthander Kael Kovar in the opening round win, and he pitched nearly flawlessly in his five-inning stint. Kovar did not allow a hit during that time, and the Hawks' only single came in the sixth inning when Kaden Hakanson got a hit against reliever Trent Ekren.
The big blow came from Grady Shipman, as he connected on a pitch from Jamestown's Jake Moser for a two-run home run to right-center field, just over the ivy-covered barrier on the upper wall. It was the lefty-swinging Shipman's second home run of the season, following a home run in the team's 11-5 win over Ashley/Linton/Wishek on July 14.
Kovar had a good day at the plate, finishing 3-for-3.
Moser took the loss for the Hawks (9-22-1), and he was followed by Jackson Jarrett in relief.
That set up a matchup with second seed A-L-W on July 19. A pitching duel followed, and two runs in the first inning were good enough for Post 25 to keep up their winning ways, 2-1.
Hudson Schmitz kept the Rattlers off-balance with his breaking ball, and surrendered just a fifth-inning RBI single to Colin Goettle. Despite pitching well, A-L-W's Joe Fode took the loss.
Top-seeded Kidder County, winners of two 10-run rule games over the Redbirds during the regular season, were the foe in the winner's bracket semifinal round last Wednesday.
To say that Post 231 was snake-bitten by their defense early on was quite the understatement. Carrington got three early runs in the first inning, all of them unearned, and tacked on two more runs in the third and one in the fourth for an early 6-0 lead.
In fact, in those first four frames, the 231's and pitcher Jayden Rath were victimized by five errors, to allow the 'Birds to take full advantage.
Lucas Hendrickson got the start for Post 25, and pitched fairly efficiently for the first four innings. However, the Kidder County bats got going in the fifth inning, stringing together several singles in a row to plate two runs.
Now up 6-2, Hendrickson's major jam continued with the bases loaded, but he got the final out in the fifth to end the threat.
Kidder County got one run back in the seventh, and the game finished up as a 6-3 win for the Redbirds to allow them to advance to the District 4 championship this past Thursday.
Hendrickson threw 100 pitches, striking out seven and giving up nine hits in a complete-game victory.
For Kidder County, Rath pitched well even with bad defense behind him, as just three of his runs given up were earned.
As the Independent was going to press last Wednesday night, the winner of the elimination game between the Jamestown Hawks and A-L-W would have advanced to play Kidder County later that evening for a chance to face Post 25 in two possible championship games.
Should Carrington win just one of those two games last Thursday afternoon, they would advance to the State Class B Tournament in Garrison, to be held July 28-August 1.
