Keybirds sweep Govs in final doubleheader

Williston prepares for West Region Thursday

By Sean Pitman

Sports Editor

Take a little determination, mix in some toughness, sprinkle with sentiment and add a pinch of perseverance and you've got the recipe for a savory ending to the Williston Keybirds regular season.

The Keybirds cooked up a 10-6, 8-7 sweep of the Bismarck Governors for the fans at Aafedt Stadium Tuesday.

Luke Aafedt played his final regular season game on the field and said it was hard to not to be a little sentimental.

“I thought about it all night, it was tough to sleep knowing it was our last doubleheader,” he said.

With the pair of wins, Williston improved to 14-5 in the West and 33-17 overall, and secured the No. 2 spot in the West. If Bismarck can go home and sweep Minot tonight, the Keybirds will have a share of the top spot, but they can finish no worse than second now.

If they stay second, they'll bring the No. 2 seed into the West Region tournament in Dickinson Thursday, and play the 8 p.m. game. If Williston somehow gets the top seed, it will play at 5:30 p.m.

“It's nice to be on a roll coming into the tourney. We want the top seed coming into state and we want to keep playing good baseball, which you need to do to have a shot to win the state title,” said Keybirds coach Shawn Cote, whose team will host the state tournament Aug. 2-6.

Williston is already in the state tournament due to hosting it, but Cote stressed they are playing to win the West Region.

“All of the the guys are contributing right now, there's not one person who hasn't done something and that's what we want,” said Cote.

Even players that are banged up are showing toughness and playing solid ball. Andy Rogers came back from a collision at home plate in Minot Monday that knocked him out, to start the nightcap Tuesday, while Ryan Lee made some impressive catches in the outfield despite a tender knee.

Hitting has been the steam in the Keybird engine, and Tyler Liffrig has led the slugging train all year. He showed a bit of determination Tuesday, knocking out three home runs, a day after breaking the single season home run record for the Keybirds.

However, he trailed Minot's Tyler Lundy (18) by two home runs on the season, so now he leads that race as well.

Liffrig is batting .500 on the year, with a team-high 19 home runs, 84 RBIs, 32 walks, along with 70 runs scored, 13 doubles and five triples.

Leer has provided a good 1-2 punch batting in front of Liffrig, hitting .414 with 59 RBIs, and has a team-high 77 runs scored and 16 doubles, along with nine homers and four triples. He also has not been caught on the bases going 16-for-16 in stolen base attempts.

Tyler Sorenson has really come on strong in the designated hitter spot, batting .443 with 29 RBIs, six doubles, 17 runs scored and a homer.

Jason Marmon has been an effective lead-off man, hitting .340 with 45 RBIs, 50 runs scored, 11 doubles and four triples, along with 27 walks and 17 stolen bases.

Lee has been solid as well hitting .331 with 31 RBIs, 51 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, 12 doubles and four homers.

Luke Aafedt has added 37 RBIs, 42 runs, five doubles and two homers, hitting in the No. 9 spot.

“We have a lineup where the hitting can start anywhere, no matter who's up, and we can start a rally at any time,” said Cote.

The Keybirds are hitting .344, while their opponents are hitting .282.

The rest of the lineup can produce with McHale Maristuen (.280, 25 RBIs), James Laqua (.385), Tucker Slagle (.352, 18 RBIs, 32 runs), Devin Kvernum (.341, 24 RBIs), Catlin Enno (.333, 10 RBIs), Andy Rogers (.333), Jared Overby (.256, 21 RBIs), Doug Richter (.228).

They are also a veteran defensive team and have been solid there all year.

The key will be the pitching staff. They haven't been able to shut down a lot of teams, but they have shown improvement throughout the season and shown perserverance on the mound, including an eight-inning grinder against Bismarck in the season finale.

“Our pitchers did a good job of hanging in there and battling, from Andy Rogers starting to Sorenson giving us a few outs and Leer finishing up,” said Cote. “Pitching will be key for us in the West Region, we have to throw strikes and not give up the big inning and not let the other team have two and three base runners.”

Maristuen has been the most successful on the mound with an 8-1 mark and a 2.31 ERA as the team's ace. He has a team high 58 strikeouts versus 25 walks in 62 innings of work.

Marmon is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA, while Tucker Slagle is 5-2 with 42 strikeouts. Rogers also has a winning record of 3-2 and Sorenson is 2-1. Enno has a mark of 4-6, but has been showing toughness on the mound as of late. Also able to throw some innings are Overby, Leer, and Aafedt.

One plus for the Keybird mound staff is they usually can count on run support.

Williston 8, Bismarck 7 (8 inn)

It's not often you see less hits for the Keybirds and a win for Williston on the board, but the home team stuck with it to outlast Bismarck in eight innings.

“It's good to be able to win the close ones, especially with the postseason coming up,” said Aafedt.

Aafedt had a hand in the win with a two-run home run in the fourth inning to grab a 7-3 lead. “I didn't think it was going out, I thought it might hit the top of the fence, but it got over,” said Aafedt.

Liffrig also added a couple of big hits with a two-run homer in the first and three-run shot in the third, both leaving little doubt about clearing the fence.

“Bismarck is a good hitting team, but we got some big hits from Liffrig and Aafedt to keep us out front,” said Cote.

Dan Eichele also went out with a two-run homer with two outs in the fourth for Bismarck.

Bismarck finally got to Rogers, who struggled in the fifth with a hit batter and two walks, which led to a two-run single by Dustin Wenzel. Sorenson came on in relief, but Josh Standing Elk and Eichele drove in two more runs before he could get out of the inning, tying the game at 7-all.

Neither team scored and in the eighth, Justin Connell smacked a one-out single for Bismarck. However, Aafedt charged a grounder, ran over second base and threw to first for an inning ending double play.

Tucker Slagle drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the inning and went to second on bunt by Maristuen. Kvernum was hit by a pitch and with two outs Aafedt walked to load the bags. Marmon then hit a lazy line drive over second base, which shortstop Zach Wenz laid out for but couldn't hold onto for Bismarck, allowing the winning run to score.

Liffrig finished 2-3 with two homers, two runs and five RBIs, while Marmon was 2-5, and Aafedt was 1-3 with two RBIs.

Eichele went 2-4 with a homer and three RBIs for Bismarck, while Justin Connell was 2-4, and Standing Elk was 2-4 with a run and an RBI.

Bismarck 001 240 00 - 7 10 1

Williston 203 200 01 - 8 6 0

John Fraase, Brandon Solemsaas (6), Zach Wenz (8) and Justin Connell. Andy Rogers, Tyler Sorenson (5), Andy Leer (6) and Devin Kvernum. W - Leer, L - Wenz. HR - Bismarck, Dan Eichele. Williston, Tyler Liffrig 2, Luke Aafedt.

Williston 10, Bismarck 6

In a battle of the bats, Williston got a few more hits strung together as each team knocked 12 hits in the game.

Liffrig hit his first of three homers in the first inning to tie the game at 2-all. Bismarck scored two more in the second with a two-run double by Tim Jallen, but Williston came right back with a five-run bottom half of the inning.

Andy Leer belted a three-run homer, while Marmon and Enno added doubles and Aafedt drove in a run for a 7-4 lead.

Bismarck put up a run in the third and one in the fifth, but the Keybirds made sure to keep the lead with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, with an RBI double by Lee and run scoring single from Leer.

Sorenson pitched the final four innings, limiting the hard hitting Governors to one run on four hits, while walking one, and got a little help with a pair of Keybird double plays.

Lee led the Keybird bats going 3-3, with a double, one run and an RBI, while Leer was 2-4 with a homer, two runs, and four RBIs, and Marmon was 2-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Liffrig finished 1-4 and Sorenson was 1-3 with a double, while Enno went 2-3 with a double and two runs, and Aafedt was 1-1 with three runs and an RBI.

Bismarck's Cody Erhardt went 3-3 with a run, Matt Kranzler was 2-4 with two runs, Jallen was 1-3 with a double and two RBIs, Torey Bohan was 2-4 with a double, a run and an RBI, and Standing Elk was 2-4.

Bismarck 221 010 0 - 6 12 0

Williston 250 120 x - 10 12 0

Dustin Wenzel, Josh Standing Elk (5) and Torey Bohan. Jared Overby, Tyler Sorenson (4) and Doug Richter. W - Overby, L - Wenzel. HR - Williston, Tyler Liffrig, Andy Leer.

NOTES: It was Boy Scouts Night at the ballpark, sponsored by First National Bank along with Kasmer-Aafedt Oil. They teamed up to provide a walleye feed with free will offerings going to the Boy Scouts. They also provided prizes including baseballs, gloves, a tent and his and her mountain bikes.

€ Fans got a chance to throw small basketballs into a big “net” on the moving Gator in breaks during the games, with those making it in the basket getting a shot to win the 50/50 drawing.

€ Andy Rogers was knocked out in a collision at home plate in Minot Monday and was taken in for observation, but he was cleared to play Tuesday.

€ Williston has won 10 of its last 12 games, including a pair of splits with Minot.