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Aberdeen Smittys first baseman Carter Paulson completes a double play by corraling the baseball while Ben Walz of Jamestown tries to get back to the bag. Smittys right fielder Josh Amdahl made the catch and throw to Paulson for the double play while Aberdeen pitcher Zach Andera (6) provided backup Tuesday at Fossum Field in Aberdeen. American News Photos by John Papendick (July 25, 2012) |
The Aberdeen Smittys scored the winning runs in the bottom of the last inning to sweep an American Legion baseball doubleheader on Tuesday.
Aberdeen defeated Jamestown 5-4 and 4-3 at Fossum Field on two game-winning, walk-off singles. The first game went into extra innings.
The guys were having a good time tonight (Tuesday) after the game, said Smittys coach Justin Downes. They are pretty high. We didn't play the games as well as we could have or should have. Our last three games have all been tight. The state tournament is coming and we know we have to win close games in the tournament. We're gearing up for it.
Aberdeen and Fossum Field will host the State A Legion Tournament on Aug. 1-5. As the host team, the Smittys received an automatic berth in the tourney.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Jamestown scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning for a 4-3 lead. The Smittys scored the tying run in the bottom half of the inning to send the game into extra innings. The Smittys used a walk and two wild pitches to get a runner to third. With two outs Riley Swenson came through with an RBI single to tie the game.
Aberdeen relief pitcher Griffin Hieb held Jamestown scoreless in the top of the eighth inning. With one out in the home half of the inning, Josh Amdahl cracked a double for Aberdeen and advanced to third on a single by Zach Reierson. Michael Stotz delivered the game winning hit with a single.
Amdahl finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and Reierson went 2-for-4.
Jamestown was led by Brady Anderson with a double, a home run and three RBIs.
In the nightcap, Jamestown tied the game at 3-all with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Aberdeen scored two runs in the first inning and one in the second for an early lead. Jamestown went scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.
The home team had one out when the winning rally began. Matt Swallow walked and Swenson followed with a single. Lucas Lorenz plated the winning run with a single to score Swallow.
Swenson and Lorenz finished the game with two hits each and Swallow followed suit with two hits, including a triple.
Anderson and Jake Stillwill had two hits each for Jamestown.
We had great performances by all four of our pitchers. They were effective and did a good job. The guys kept coming back. We didn't give up any earned runs in the second game. Lately, we haven't been allowing those big innings. We try to limit our mistakes so the other team might get one run on us or none. Earlier in the year we were giving up four or five or eight runs after we made a mistake, said Downes.
Aberdeen's record improved to 20-36 overall. The Smittys finish the regular season today with a 5 p.m. doubleheader against Mandan, N.D., at Fossum Field.
Jamestown
001 000 30-4 6 0
Aberdeen
010 002 11-5 12 1
Tyler Ukestad, Jake Stillwill (7) and Joey Gebhardt; Zach Andera, Griffin Hieb (7) and Zach Reierson. 2B-Jamestown, Brady Anderson; Aberdeen, Josh Amdahl, Matt Swallow. HR-Jamestown, Anderson.
Jamestown
001 110 0-3 8 1
Aberdeen
210 000 1-4 9 5
Shaun Hogan and Joey Gebhardt; Zach Reierson, Lucas Lorenz (7) and Griffin Hieb. 2B-Jamestown, Riley Schafer; Aberdeen, Josh Amdahl, Hieb. 3B-Aberdeen, Matt Swallow.
