Redbirds begin season with 2-2 record

Summer baseball for the Carrington American Legion Post 25 Redbirds kicked off at City Park Wednesday, June 8, and continued with three more varsity contests for a four-game string in six days.

The Redbirds, coached once again by Tim Ranum, started off with a pair of wins by the count of 9-5 over the Nelson County Post 162 Owls, and a 12-9 win against rival Post 30 of New Rockford on June 8-9.

However, their early run of success was neutralized to an overall split of the quartet of District 4 matchups. The Ashley/Linton/Wishek Rattlers withstood a late Redbird rally to take a 7-6 win on June 10, and Post 25 was victim to a walk-off win in their rematch with Post 30, 10-9, this past Monday at Jim Johnson Park in New Rockford.

In game one, the 'Birds raced out to an 8-1 lead on the Owls, and held off Nelson County's spirited charge of four runs in the final two innings.

Noah Paulson led Post 25 with two hits, a pair of stolen bases and two runs driven in. Lucas Hendrickson stole two bases and scored twice, and was the winning pitcher with five innings of work.

The only extra-base hit for the Redbirds came from Grady Shipman, who also scored twice, as did Brock Fike.

The other Hendrickson on the hill, Nelson County's Cole, took the loss, but was one of two Owl batters along with Brody Hoyt with multiple hits. Preston Lee and Zach Gibson each hit doubles for Post 162.

The following day, the Redbirds returned to City Park to face the Black Sox of Post 30, and needed 10 combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings to bulldoze an early deficit of 6-2.

Shipman would get the win in relief of Kael Kovar and Kyle Johnson, while 'Sox reliever Luke Yri was the losing pitcher after coming in for starter Alex Harrison.

Kovar had hits in two at-bats for the Redbirds, who scored 12 runs even though they had just four total hits. That was a product of poor defense from the Black Sox's eight errors in the game.

The two other hits for Post 25 were from Shipman and Trent Ekren. Hendrickson scored three runs in the victory.

Game three pitted the 'Birds against another District 4 contender, A-L-W. The Rattlers erupted for four runs in the second against Redbird starter Ekren, and kept up the pressure for a one-run win.

Joe Fode, with two hits for the Rattlers, went deep for a two-run home run in the fifth inning to make the score 7-3. The Redbirds drew to 7-4 on Owen Hagel's RBI single to score Kovar following a double.

In the bottom of the seventh, Post 25 got to a tiring Jace Nitschke, as the home squad got two runners on with Jack Erickson's walk and a Shipman double with one out.

Marshall Lindgren came on for A-L-W to get the final two outs. Erickson and Shipman would score on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Ekren and a Fike fielder's choice. With the tying run on third and winner on second, Lindgren got Kovar to ground out for the final out of the contest and pick up the save.

Shipman and Kovar both had two hits for Post 25 in defeat. Erickson had a double, and the other hits came from Ekren, Hendrickson, Fike and Paulson.

A wild slugfest finished up the week on June 13, when Post 25 made the short trip to New Rockford. There were six total lead changes in the game.

Hendrickson drew the starting assignment for the 'Birds, and struck out 11 Black Sox hitters over five innings.

Holding an 8-6 lead going into the bottom of the sixth following a four-run rally in the top of the frame, the Redbirds watched as Post 30 stormed for three runs to take the lead.

Carrington would tie the score at 9-9 on an Erickson RBI single in the top of the seventh, but Caden Price would be the hero in the home half with his own game-winning hit to score Yri. The latter got into scoring position with a one-out double.

After taking the mound in the sixth, Connor Knatterud got the win for Post 30 following Nick Berglund's start. Kovar, also pitching in relief of Hendrickson, was saddled with the loss.

Carrington had 11 hits to Post 30's 12. Shipman, Hendrickson, Ekren and Fike all had two hits, and the Sox's Koby Duda was the big offensive producer with a 3-for-4 evening. Yri, Harrison and Berglund all had two hits in New Rockford's column.

A planned game on Tuesday with the Jamestown Hawks 'B' team was postponed to Wednesday, June 15, due to weather.

Expected to be very wide-open, the District 4 Tournament will be played at Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown July 19-21, and this year's Class B American Legion Baseball Tournament is scheduled for July 28-August 1 in Garrison.

District 4 American

Legion Baseball

Carrington 9, Nelson Co. 5

at Carrington

NC 001 003 1 - 5 7 5

Cgtn. 050 301 x - 9 5 4

Lucas Hendrickson, Trent Ekren (6) and Grady Shipman; Cole Hendrickson, Trae Lillehaugen (5) and Zach Gibson. W - L. Hendrickson. L - C. Hendrickson.

Carrington: Noah Paulson 2-3, run, 2 SB, 2 RBI; L. Hendrickson 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; 1-2, 2 SB, 2 runs; Shipman 1-3, double, SB, 2 runs; Ekren 1-4; Hudson Schmitz RBI; Brock Fike 2 SB, 2 runs; Jake Otto 2 SB, run; Kael Kovar SB, run.

Nelson Co.: C. Hendrickson 2-3, run, RBI; Brody Hoyt 2-4, run; Preston Lee 1-3, double, run; Lillehaugen 1-3, SB, RBI; Gibson 1-4, double, SB, run; Gage Flaagan RBI; Landon Sundeen run.

Carrington 12, New Rockford 9

at Carrington

NR 201 212 1 - 9 7 8

Cgtn. 000 255 x - 12 4 2

Kovar, Kyle Johnson (5), Shipman (6) and Hendrickson; Alex Harrison, Luke Yri (5) and Koby Duda. W - Shipman. L - Yri.

Carrington: Kovar 2-2, 2 runs, RBI; Shipman 1-3, 2 runs; Ekren 1-4, SB, 2 runs; Paulson RBI; Hendrickson SB, 3 runs; Johnson run, RBI; Jack Erickson and Fike one run each.

New Rockford: Harrison 2-3, double, 2 runs; 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Alex Weisenburger 1-2, double, run, RBI; Nick Berglund 1-3, run, 4 RBI; Connor Knatterud 1-3, double, run, RBI; Yri 1-4, double, run, RBI; Caden Price 1-4, 2 runs; Duda RBI; Keaton Cudworth run.

Ashley/Linton/Wishek 7,

Carrington 6

at Carrington

A-L-W 040 120 0 - 7 5 0

Cgtn. 201 001 2 - 6 10 4

Ekren, Paulson (6) and Shipman; Jace Nitschke, Marshall Lindgren (7) and Daniel Schumacher. W - Nitschke. L - Ekren. SV - Lindgren.

Carrington: Shipman 2-3, double, run, RBI; Kovar 2-4, double, SB, run; Erickson 1-2, double, 3 runs; Ekren 1-3, 2 RBI; Hendrickson and Owen Hagel 1-3, RBI; Fike 1-4, SB, RBI; Paulson 1-4, run.

A-L-W: Joe Fode 2-3, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Seth Wolf 1-2, SB, run, RBI; Connor Kosiak 1-3; Lindgren 1-4, SB, run; Rykan Salwei RBI; Logan Barnes 2 SB, 2 runs; Nitschke run.

New Rockford 10, Carrington 9

at New Rockford

Cgtn. 102 104 1 - 9 11 3

NR 210 033 1 - 10 12 2

Hendrickson, Kovar (6) and Shipman, Hendrickson (6); Berglund, Knatterud (6) and Duda. W - Knatterud. L - Kovar.

Carrington: Shipman 2-3, double, SB, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Hendrickson 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 11 K; 2-3, SB, run, RBI; Ekren 2-4, double, SB, 2 RBI; Fike 2-4; Paulson 1-3, SB, 2 runs; Otto SB, 2 runs; Schmitz RBI.

New Rockford: Duda 3-4, double, SB, run, RBI; Yri 2-3, double, 2 runs; Harrison 2-3, 2 runs; Berglund 2-4, double, 2 runs, 3 RBI; 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K; Price 2-4, GW single, 2 runs, RBI; Knatterud 1-5, run.