August 4, 2010

Walleye come up short at State American Legion Tourney

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

The Walleye dropped their first two games of the State American Legion Baseball Tournament, but the experience was something that the Watford City players will long remember.
The Walleye lost their first game 8-5 to Casselton, the eventual state champions, and were eliminated from the tournament by Velva, 5-3 in their second game.
“We played two very good teams and really competed well in both games,” stated Pat Spacher, Walleye head coach. “I was very proud of the kids for coming back in both games.”
According to Spacher, it was the lack of being able to put together back-to-back innings of scoring that hurt the Walleye.
“Overall, we pitched well in the tournament,” stated Spacher. “We just weren’t able to bunch hits together.”
The Walleye ended their season with a 23-8 record and were 14-1 in league play.
“We had a very successful season and we are already looking at making it back to state next season,” says Spacher.
State Legion Tournament
First Game
Casselton 8, Walleye 5

Watford City found itself trailing a very good Casselton team early in the State American Legion Baseball Tournament, but came up short after rallying midway through the game.
The Walleye trailed Casselton 3-0 after three innings of play and then got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning to trail 4-1 before scoring four runs in the fourth inning to get back into the contest.
But Casselton shut down the Walleye in the final two innings to take the win 8-5.
Doug Rolfson took the loss for the Walleye on the mound striking out seven batters, while giving up 10 hits and four walks in seven innings of work.
                                                                          R    H    E
Watford City            0    0    0    1    4    0    0    5    7    4
Casselton                0    1    2    2    0    3    0    8    11    2
Highlights: Trey Jacobson, 2-3, 2 runs; Dillon Langerud, 1-3, 1 run; Nick Liebel, 1-4, 2 RBI; Ben Haugeberg, 1-3, 1 RBI; Doug Rolfson, 0-3; Reid Johnson, 1-3; Doug Nordby 1-2; Adam Brenna 0-1, 1run; Blake Wold, 0-3; Chris Larsen, 0-2, 1 run.

State Legion Tournament
Second Game
Velva 5, Walleye 3

While Watford City outhit Velva 9-8 in loser-out action of the State American Legion Baseball Tournament, the Walleye just couldn’t get anyone across the plate.
Watford City got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning as Watford City scored three runs, but it was too little too late as the Walleye fell to Velva 5-3.
Ben Haugeberg took the loss on the mound for the Walleye striking out five batters while giving up six hits.
                                                                            R    H    E
Watford City              0    0    0    0    0    0    3    3    9    2
Velva                           0    0    1    0    0    4    x    5    8    0
Highlights: Trey Jacobson, 2-4; Dillon Langerud, 1-4; Nick Liebel, 1-4; Ben Haugeberg, 0-2; Doug Rolfson, 1-3, 1 run; Reid Johnson, 1-3, 1 double, 1 run; Doug Nordby, 1-2; Paul Martin, 0-0, 1 run; Blake Wold, 0-2; Lucas Nicholson, 1-1, 1 RBI; Chris Larsen, 1-3, 1 RBI.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER