Walleye head to Region Baseball Tournament
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
The Watford City American Legion Baseball Team wrapped up its regular season play this past weekend and is now heading to the West Region Tournament.The tournament will be held in Makoti, July 23 to 27.
“We ended our season with a 15-15 record,” states Pat Spacher, Walleye head coach. “It was a very difficult season for us as we were missing many players throughout the course of the summer, with players being gone for vacations and other sports camps. But we’re going to be ready for our post season play.”
Spacher feels that even though the Walleye’s season record isn’t what he had hoped it would be, considering that virtually his entire team played on this year’s Watford City High School State Championship Baseball Team, the team has the potential to do very well at State.
“We’ve had to battle injuries and players being gone throughout the summer,” states Spacher. “But when we get our full team back on the field for the Regional and State tournaments, I think we’re going to be fine.”
The Walleye wrapped up its final six games of the season with a 3-3 record as the Legion team posted wins over Glendive, Colestrip and Bozeman, while falling to Glasgow and twice to Sidney.
The Walleye will be entering the Region Tournament with a 5-3 league record, and will be seeded as the No. 2 team.
“The top four teams from our region will be advancing to the State Tournament in Wahpeton, which runs from July 31 to Aug. 3,” states Spacher.
Walleye 20, Glendive 7
Watford City completely dominated Glendive on July 11, as the Walleye scored 20 runs on 11 hits en route to an easy, 20-7, win.
Watford City jumped out to a quick, 4-1 first inning lead, and then outscored Glendive in each of the next four innings.
At the plate, Andrew Sampsel was three for four with a double and a home run and six RBIs, while Dakota Neether was four for five with two singles and a double.
Mitchell Liebel picked up the win on the mound for the Walleye as he gave up five hits while striking out four batters.
R H E
Watford City 4 3 4 3 6 0 20 11 3
Glendive 1 0 3 0 3 0 7 5 2
Walleye 24, Colstrip 6
The Walleye’s bats remained hot on July 11 as Watford City scored 24 runs on 22 hits to down Colstrip, 24-6.
Watford City got off to a fast start scoring eight runs in the first inning, and then tacked on seven runs in the second and six more in the third, to coast to the easy win.
Andrew Sampsel drove in six of Watford City’s runs as he had two singles and a double in the contest. Dakota Neether was four for five with three singles and a double, while Brandon Allex had four singles in five trips to the plate.
Keegan Thompson pitched the first four innings of the game, giving up five runs, while striking out four batters. Dakota Neether pitched the final inning for the Walleye, giving up one run and striking out two batters.
R H E
Watford City 8 7 6 0 3 0 24 22 2
Colstrip 1 0 0 0 3 2 6 7 0
Walleye 8, Bozeman 2
The Walleye capped off a three-game winning streak on July 13 as Watford City downed Bozeman, 8-2.
The Walleye, who were never challenged in the game, held a 3-0 lead after three innings of play. After a scoreless fourth inning, Watford City scored four runs in the fifth inning en route to the win.
Dakota Neether and Andrew Sampsel each had a double for the Walleye.
Andrew Sampsel pitched the complete game for Watford City as he struck out five batters, while giving up two runs.
R H E
Watford City 1 1 1 0 4 0 1 8 8 1
Bozeman 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 3
Walleye 4, Glasgow 8
While Watford City got off to a 4-1 first inning lead, Glasgow battled back to down the Walleye, 8-4, on July 13. Glasgow would score four runs in the second inning, and then wrapped up the game’s scoring with three runs in the third inning.
Dakota Neether, Andrew Sampsel, Mitchell Liebel and Keegan Thompson went one for three at the plate for the Walleye.
Dakota Neether took the loss on the mound for the Walleye as he gave up eight runs and struck out one batter.
R H E
Watford City 4 0 0 0 0 4 5 4
Glasgow 1 4 3 0 0 8 8 2
Walleye 5, Sidney 6
Walleye 5, Sidney 9
Sidney swept the Walleye in double-head action on July 16 as Watford City fell to Sidney, 6-5 and 9-5.
In the first game, the Walleye held a 1-0 first inning lead, before Sidney took the lead, 3-1, at the end of four innings of play. Watford City would score four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to retake the lead, 5-3. But Sidney would rally to score three more runs to take the win.
Dakota Neether and Brandon Allex went three for five at the plate for the Walleye.
The Walleye went through four pitchers in the game. Brandon Allex took the mound for the first five and two-third innings, giving up four runs, while striking out three batters. Dakota Neether closed out the inning giving up one run. David Kline pitched to the first batter in the sixth inning, before Andrew Sampsel pitched the final three innings.
In the second game of the evening, Sidney got off to an quick, 7-1 lead after three innings, and never looked back en route to a 9-5 win.
Brandon Allex was four for four at the plate for the Walleye, while Mitchell Liebel took the loss on the mound.
Game 1 R H E
Sidney 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 6 6 0
Watford City 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 9 5
Game 2 R H E
Sidney 3 0 4 1 1 0 0 9 12 2
Watford City 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 5 9 3