Watford City Walleye fishtail into regional
By Jack Dura
Farmer Staff Writer
A season riddled with losses but punctuated with personal triumph has defined a tough year for the Watford City Walleye.
The team ended its regular season Monday at Velva with a play-in game Tuesday against Mandan for the regional tournament. A Tuesday win will pit the Walleye against Beulah Wednesday morning with the regional tournament Wednesday through Saturday at Minot’s Corbett Field.
“We have had a rough year,” Walleye team manager Pat Spacher said Monday morning. “We need to be more consistent and focused in order to turn things around.”
The Walleye are 4-11 in league play and 4-23 in their current record.
Despite their stream of losses, Walleye players have racked up individual highlights throughout the season.
Tyler Krabbenhoft has been hit 28 times by a pitch this season, a team record. He broke his previous record of 15 hits quite early on this year, Spacher said.
Brett Skarda, Logan Mehlhoff, Brandon Roff and Heath Chaffin have all had success at bat, Spacher added, but the team’s losses have come in pitching and defense.
“Hopefully we can throw strikes and make the routine plays, get into the regional tournament and make some noise,” he said.
The top three teams at Minot’s regional advance to Dickinson’s state tournament to be held July 27-31.
Results of the Walleye’s Velva and Mandan games were not available at press time.