Walleye take second at Williston Tournament
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City’s American Legion baseball team has had a busy month of July so far as the Walleye took second place at the First National Bank Tournament in Williston, and then picked up key league wins over Stanley and Makoti.
The Walleye, who have a season record of 16-12 and a league record of 6-2, will be wrapping up their regular season this week as they host Surrey on Wednesday and Tioga on Thursday in 4 p.m. games. Watford City’s final regular season game will be at Crosby on Friday, July 20.
First National Bank Tournament
Watford City may have only went 1-2 in pool play of the First National Bank Oiler Tournament in Williston, but the Oilers emerged as the tournament runners-up on the heels of some great hitting.
Game 1
Walleye 9, Burlington 7
Watford City used a seven-run fifth inning to take a 9-7 win over Burlington in the first game of pool play in the Oiler Tournament.
Watford City out-hit Burlington, 8-3, with Andrew Sampsel picking up the win on the mound for the Walleye.
At the plate, Mitchell Liebel was two for three with one RBI and two runs scored, while Tyler Bates was two for three with one RBI and one run scored. Brice Brenno ended the game hitting two for four with one RBI and one run, while Brandon Allex was one for two with one RBI and one run.
Game 1 R H E
Watford City 0 2 0 0 7 x 9 8 5
Burlington 0 0 0 0 2 5 7 3 6
Game 2
Williston 6, Walleye 3
The Williston 15-year-olds had Watford City’s number in the second game of pool play at the Oiler Tournament as the Walleye took a 6-3 loss.
Williston got on the scoreboard first and led the Walleye 3-2 after three innings of play before tacking on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the win.
Dakota Neether took the loss on the mound for Watford City as he stuck out seven batters and gave up two walks in five innings of work.
At the plate, Mitchell Liebel was three for three with one RBI, while Brandon Allex was one for one with one RBI.
Game 2 R H E
Watford City 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 6 5
Williston 1 0 2 0 3 x 6 6 1 Game 3
Williston 8, Walleye 7
Watford City saw its early 3-2 lead evaporate as a tough Williston team came from behind to down the Walleye 8-7 in the third game of pool play in the Oiler Tournament.
While the Walleye out-hit Williston 15-5, Williston rallied to score three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to take the come-from-behind win.
Watford City used three pitchers in the loss with Brice Brenno pitching the first three innings with Brandon Allex and Dakota Neether coming in as relief.
At the plate, Tyler Bates was two for three with one RBI and two runs scored, Brice Brenno was two for three with a double and one RBI, Brandon Taylor was three for four with one RBI, Nate Egeberg was two for four with one RBI, Mitchell Liebel was one for three with one run, Brandon Allex was one for two with one RBI and one run, and Dakota Neether was two for three with three runs and one RBI.
Game 3 R H E
Watford City 1 2 0 1 1 2 7 15 3
Williston 0 1 1 3 3 x 8 5 0
Semifinal
Walleye 14, Williston 12
After dropping a pair of games to Williston earlier in the Oiler Tournament, the Walleye turned the tables on the home team in the semifinal game.
In a game that saw plenty of hitting, the Walleye out-slugged Williston 15-6 to take a 14-12 win.
Williston jumped out to a 9-1 first inning lead before the Walleye battled back scoring four runs in the second inning and one run in the fourth and sixth innings to narrow their deficit to 11-7 at the end of six innings of play.
And then Watford City’s bats came alive in the seventh inning as the Walleye rallied to score seven runs to take the win.
Dakota Neether picked up the win on the mound for the Walleye.
At the plate, Brice Brenno was four for five with three doubles along with three RBIs and one run scored, Tyler Bates was two for four with two runs scored and one RBI, Davis Zubke was one for one with one RBI and one run scored, Mitchell Liebel was three for five with two runs scored, Keegan Thompson was three for five with a double, three RBIs and four runs scored, and Dakota Neether was two for three with one RBI and one run scored.
Semifinal R H E
Watford City 1 4 0 1 0 1 7 14 15 2
Williston 9 0 1 0 0 1 1 12 6 1
Championship
Williston 12, Walleye 2
Watford City’s exuberance over downing Williston in the semifinal game of the Oiler Tournament was short-lived as Williston came back to down the Oilers 12-2 in the title game.
After a scoreless first inning of play, Williston led 3-1 after three innings and then added nine more runs in the final three innings to knock off the Walleye.
Joey Dwyer took the loss on the mound for the Walleye.
At the plate, Tyler Bates was one for two with a double and one run scored, Joey Dwyer was two for three with one RBI, and Brandon Allex was one for two with one run scored.
Championship R H E
Watford City 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 5 6
Williston 0 1 2 1 6 1 12 9 0
Walleye 17, Stanley 2
Walleye 9, Stanley 5
Watford City picked up a pair of league wins last Thursday as the Walleye swept Stanley 17-2 and 9-5.
In the first game of the day, Watford City shell-shocked Stanley as the Walleye scored 15 unanswered first inning runs.
Andrew Sampsel picked up the win on the mound as he pitched the first two innings before Brandon Taylor came in for relief.
At the plate, Sampsel was two for three with two doubles with two RBIs and three runs scored, Davis Zubke was one for three, Joey Dwyer was two for two with two runs scored, Brandon Allex was two for three with two RBIs and one run, Mitchell Liebel was one for two with a double, five RBIs and two runs scored, Jayden Grotte was two for four with two RBIs and one run, while Brice Brenno was one for one with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Watford City again controlled the second game as the Walleye scored nine runs on eight hits to take a 9-5 win.
Brandon Allex was the winning pitcher as he struck out eight batters while giving up eight hits and two walks.
Game 1 R H E
Watford City 15 1 0 1 x 17 12 1
Stanley 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 0
Game 2 R H E
Watford City 1 0 7 1 x 9 8 2
Stanley 0 0 4 1 0 5 8 2
Walleye 13, Makoti 2
Makoti 6, Walleye 0
Watford City split with Makoti this past Sunday with the Walleye picking up the key 13-2 first game before dropping the second game of the day 6-0.
In the first game, after a scoreless first inning, Watford City scored nine runs in the second inning to put the game out of Makoti’s reach. The Walleye kept their bats going late in the game picking up three runs in the fourth inning and a final insurance run in the fifth.
Nate Egeberg earned the win on the mound for the Walleye as he struck out seven batters while giving up two walks in five innings of work.
At the plate, Tyler Bates was two for three with one RBI and two runs scored, Brice Brenno was one for three with two RBIs and one run, Andrew Sampsel was one for one with two RBIs and one run, Joey Dwyer was two for two with two runs scored, Brandon Allex was one for two with two RBIs, Mitchell Liebel was two for three with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Jayden Grotte was three for four with two runs.
In the second game, it was all Makoti as the Walleye were defeated 6-0.
Joey Dwyer was the losing pitcher as he struck out two batters while giving up seven hits and three walks.
At the plate, Tyler Bates and Mitchell Liebel were one for two, while Brice Brenno was one for three.
Game 1 R H E
Watford City 0 9 0 3 1 13 14 0
Makoti 0 0 1 0 1 2 4 6
Game 2 R H E
Watford City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4
Makoti 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 6 9 0