Wolves pound Wildcats in double-header
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City extended its winning streak to three games as the Wolves swept the North Shore-Plaza-Parshall-Berthold Wildcats in high school baseball action last Thursday.
Watford City took the first game, 4-0, and then blanked the Wildcats, 10-0, in the second game.
This week, the Wolves are scheduled to host New Town on Thursday and then travel to Kenmare on Friday. However, because of the condition of Kenmare’s field, that game may be played in Watford City as well.
Watford City 4, NSPPB 0
With solid pitching performances by Doug Rolfson and Trey Jacobson, Watford City held North Shore-Plaza-Pashall-Berthold to just one hit as the Wolves cruised to an easy 4-0 win over the Wildcats in the first game of a double-header on Thursday.
Rolfson picked up the win on the mound for the Wolves striking out eight batters while giving up one hit, while Jacobson struck out four batters in three innings of work.
“Between the two of them, they threw 90 pitches and 71 of them were strikes,” stated Justin Johnsrud, Wolves’ coach, on the win. “We need that kind of effort from our pitchers, especially early in the season. Pounding the strike zone and not giving any batter a free pass is important in any baseball game.”
While Johnsrud gives much of the credit for the win to pitching, he was also impressed with his team offensively.
“At the plate, we did a much better job of contacting the baseball in our second game of the season, but we are still not seeing a lot of solid base hits or line drives,” states Johnsrud. “But the improvement at the plate was noticeable. We only had two strikeouts, which meant we were putting the ball in play and forcing the defense to get outs.”
The Wolves got on the scoreboard in the third inning when Jacobson singled followed by the back-to-back walks of Karson Knudtson and Nick Liebel. Rolfson then came to the plate with bases loaded and delivered a line drive into center field scoring Jacobson. Knudtson was waved home and tagged out at the plate on a great throw from the NSPPB center fielder.
With Nate Egeberg at the plate, Nick stole home to give the Wolves a two-run lead.
The Wolves capped off their scoring in the sixth inning with Liebel and Rolfson both scoring following back-to-back walks, a couple of steals and two passed balls by NSPPB.
At the plate, Jacobson was one of three with one run, Knudtson was one of two, Rolfson was one of two with one RBI, and Paul Martin was one of two.
Watford City 10, NSPPB 0
The Wolves 10-runned the Wildcats in the second game of doubleheader play to cap off a perfect day of baseball.
Paul Martin started on the mound for the Wolves giving up only two hits with five strikeouts and two walks, while Nate Egeberg finished off the Wildcats striking out two batters and giving up one walk in relief.
“Our younger kids played well. We continued to put the bat on the ball and forced the defense to make plays,” stated Johnsrud on the win.
The Wolves scored two runs in the first inning, and then added four more runs in the third and fourth innings, to take the win.
At the plate, Davis Zubke was one for two with one run scored, Brice Brenno was one for one with two runs scored, Brandon Allex was two for two with two runs scored, Nate Egeberg was one for one with one run scored, Lucas Nicholson was one for one, Mitchell Liebel was one for three and Jayden Grotte was one for two.
Game 1 R H E
NSPPB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Watford City 0 0 2 0 0 2 x 4 4 0
Game 2 R H E
NSPPB 0 0 0 0 x 0 2 0
Watford City 2 0 4 4 x 10 9 0