by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
A doubleheader sweep over Post 147 of Park River (N.D.) on Tuesday, July 2, gave Thief River Falls Post 117 a modest three-game winning streak heading into the Fourth of July holiday break. Post 117 led from start to finish in a 3-2 victory in game one and it picked up its third no-hitter of the season in a 1-0 win in game two.
Game one starter Logan Kriel was coming off of a no-hitter in his previous start on June 29. He pitched another complete game on Tuesday, allowing two unearned runs on four hits over seven innings. Kriel struck out six and walked one Park River hitter.
Cooper Lawrence led off the game with a base hit to center. Lawrence stole second and third and scored on a two-out RBI single by Bodhi Mossestad to stake Kriel to a 1-0 lead before he toed the rubber in the bottom of the first.
Post 117 would add to its lead in the top of the fifth. Jaxon Hams singled to left and Jameson Hurst reached base on an error with two outs in the inning. Both runners came around to score on double by Bridger Wilcox to put Post 117 up 3-0.
After allowing just three Park River batters to reach base in the first four innings, Kriel got into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Leadoff hitter Calvin Otto reached on an error and number two hitter Aidan Rost was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up a bag on a sacrifice bunt by Kieran Sullivan.
Otto scored and Rost moved to third on a single to center by James Larson. Rost was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning as Jaxon Omdahl reached on the play, with Larson moved to second. Larson would come around to score and Omdahl would move to second as Jacob Solseng reached on an error. Kriel got Everett Fedje to line out to left to escape the jam and he kept the bases empty for the most part over the final two innings to pick up his third win of the season.
Game two starter Hams became the third pitcher for Post 117 to pitch a no-hitter this summer. He joins the combo of Mossestad and Kriel, who combined to pitch a no-hitter in a 2-1 loss to East Grand Forks on June 24 and Kriel who pitched a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over Bloomington on Friday, June 28.
Hams’ no-hitter may have been the most dominant. He rang up 11 strikeouts and just four walks to lead Post 117 to a 1-0 win.
Park River got a strong pitching performance from its game two starter as well, with Isaac Porter going the distance and allowing an unearned run on five hits.
Post 117 broke a scoreless tie with a run on two hits in the top of the third. Wilcox tripled with one out in the inning and scored as Kaleb Mehrkens reached on an error on a ground ball to short.
Park River loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the first, but Hams worked his way out of that jam. He would only allow two more base runners in the contest – one in the fifth and one in the sixth – as Post 117 hung on for the 1-0 win.
Post 117 has won three straight and five of its past six starts to improve to 9-8. Post 117 was scheduled to host Middle River Tuesday, July 9 in its first action since the Fourth of July break. Full results from that game will appear in this weekend’s edition of The Northern Watch.
Game 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF….. 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 3 9 4
PR……. 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 2 4 4
Batting
TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO
C. Lawrence (DH) 4 1 2 0 0 1
L. Wikert (2B) 4 0 1 0 0 0
N. Gonzales (C) 4 0 0 0 0 2
B. Mossestad (RF) 4 0 2 1 0 2
J. Hams (3B) 4 1 1 0 0 0
J. Hurst (LF) 4 1 1 0 0 0
B. Wilcox (CF) 3 0 2 2 1 1
W. Nelson (1B) 3 0 0 0 0 0
G. Zutz (SS) 3 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 33 3 9 3 1 6
Highlights – 2B: B. Wilcox; HBP: W. Nelson; SB: J. Hurst, C. Lawrence 2, W. Nelson, B. Mossestad, J. Hams; LOB: 10.
Park River AB R H RBI BB SO
J. Omdahl (SS) 4 0 1 0 0 0
J. Solseng (RF) 4 0 0 0 0 1
E. Fedje (P) 3 0 1 0 0 0
I. Porter (3B) 3 0 0 0 0 2
J. Evorick (DH) 2 0 1 0 1 0
C. Otto (1B) 3 1 0 0 0 2
A. Rost (C) 2 0 0 0 0 0
K. Sullivan (LF) 2 0 0 0 0 1
J. Larson (2B) 3 1 1 1 0 0
Totals 26 2 4 1 1 6
Highlights – 2B: Evorick; SAC: Sullivan, HBP: Rost, LOB: 6.
Pitching
TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO
L. Kriel – W 7.0 4 2 0 1 6
Park River ND IP H R ER BB SO
E. Fedje – L 7.0 9 3 1 1 6
Game 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF…… 0 0 1 0 0 0 X – 1 5 0
PR……. 0 0 0 0 0 0 X – 0 0 1
Batting
TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO
B. Wilcox (CF) 3 1 2 0 0 0
K. Mehrkens (2B) 3 0 0 1 0 1
B. Mossestad (RF) 3 0 1 0 0 0
N. Gonzales (C) 3 0 1 0 0 1
J. Hams (P) 2 0 0 0 1 0
J. Hurst (LF) 2 0 1 0 1 1
A. Dalager (3B) 2 0 0 0 0 1
R. Flaagan (DH) 2 0 0 0 0 1
G. Zutz (SS) 2 0 0 0 0 1
CR: C Lawrence 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 22 1 5 1 2 6
Highlights – 3B: B. Wilcox; SB: C. Lawrence; LOB: 5
Park River AB R H RBI BB SO
J. Omdahl (C) 2 0 0 0 1 0
K. Sullivan (2B) 2 0 0 0 1 1
E. Fedje (DH) 2 0 0 0 1 1
J. Evorick (3B) 2 0 0 0 1 2
R. Jorgense (1B) 2 0 0 0 0 2
C. Otto (LF) 2 0 0 0 0 2
A. Rost (SS) 1 0 0 0 0 1
C. Hurlt (CF) 2 0 0 0 0 2
J. Larson (RF) 2 0 0 0 0 0
Highlights – CS: Omdahl; HBP: Rost; SB: Rost; LOB: 4.
Pitching
TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO
J. Hams – W 6.0 0 0 0 4 11
Park River IP H R ER BB SO
I. Porter – L 6.0 5 1 0 2 6