Kyle Mayhugh/Williston Herald

By Kyle Mayhugh

Williston Herald

The Williston High baseball team continued its shot up the WDA standings with a 10-run comeback to defeat Minot 11-10 on Tuesday at Aafedt Stadium in Williston.

The Coyotes (11-5, 9-2 WDA) trailed 10-0 after the top of the fourth, but scored three in the fourth, seven in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull ahead. The win puts Williston at second in the WDA, a game ahead of Minot (13-4, 8-3 WDA) and Bismarck Century and a game behind Dickinson.

The Coyotes had just four hits against Minot's pitching staff, but drew 14 walks and two hit batsmen while walking nine batters themselves.

"I don't think this was a game either dugout is really proud of right now," said coach Brian Westphal.

Jordan Nelson pitched four solid innings in relief, only allowing an inherited runner to score Minot's 10th run before shutting down its offense.

"That's a tough spot, when you come in down 10-0," Westphal said. "But he came in, threw strikes and the defense made plays behind him."

Right fielder Casey Gardner helped waste a leadoff triple in the top of the sixth when he threw out a runner trying to tag on a fly to right, then scored the winning run in the Coyotes' last at-bat.

"I knew he was going to try to score, so I just did what I was taught to do," Gardner said. "It was just lucky it went on a straight line."

Gardner led off the sixth with an infield single, stole second, went to third on a balk and scored on Austin Grundstad's sac fly.

"We came out a little flat," Gardner said. "But we knew we get it back if we got going."

Minot built it's 10-0 lead with four in the second and five in the fourth, including a 3-run home run from senior Ryan Bollinger, who showed his left-handed power by driving the ball out the opposite way to left-center.

With the Coyotes trailing 10-0, senior catcher Jake Axtman got the comeback started with a nine-pitch walk after falling behind 0-2 leading off the fourth. He finished with a batting line typical of the senior catcher's season: no official at-bats, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and an RBI sacrifice fly.

He scored on a wild pitch, and second-baseman Austin Grundstad knocked home two runs on a sharp grounder to SS that Minot's Jordan Rubbelke couldn't handle.

Shortstop Alex Hanson bookended the Coyotes' seven-run rally in the fifth, leading off with one single and driving home the tying run with another later in the inning after the batting order had turned over.

Williston drew six walks and had a hit-batsmen in the inning, and Nelson fouled off a tough breaking pitch 0-2 to stay alive before hitting a two-run triple that one-hopped to the wall in right field.

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After the victory, the Coyotes lost 7-4 in the non-conference game that finished the doubleheader.

The Coyotes continue their busy week with Bismarck in town Thursday and Mandan following on Friday.

"This is going to test us a little bit," Westphal said. "We've got some sore arms, but we're going to have to get some pitching performances from guys who aren't feeling 100 percent."

Williston 11, Minot 10

MHS 1 4 0 5 0 0 0

WHS 0 0 0 3 7 1 x

Williston batting

Shawn Egge 0-1 4 BB, RBI; Austin Grundstad 0-3 BB, SF, 2 RBI; Jordan Nelson 1-5 3b; 2 RBI; Alex Hanson 2-4, RBI; Jake Axtman 0-0 HBP, 2 BB, SF, RBI; Jeff Skadeland 0-1, 3 BB; Jon Westphal 0-1 3 BB; Tyler Eiken 0-3, BB; Casey Gardner 1-3, 1b, HBP, RBI

Williston pitching

Jeff Skadeland 3 IP, 10 R, 10 ER, 6 H, 6 BB, 1 K

Jordan Nelson 4 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 K

Second game, non-conference

Minot 7, Williston 4

WEST REGION

Team Region Overall

Dickinson 10-1 12-4

Williston 9-2 11-5

Minot 8-3 13-4

Century 8-3 11-7

Bismarck 5-5 9-6

Jamestown 6-6 6-6

Mandan 4-5 5-8

Bismarck St. Mary's 3-9 6-12

Turtle Mountain 0-6 0-6

Beulah-Hazen 0-13 1-16