by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls Post 117 played its way to a third place finish in the 2025 Division II Senior American Legion Northwest Sub-State Tournament held Thursday through Sunday at Jim Karn Field in Crookston.
Post 117 defeated Wadena Post 171 in the play-in round Thursday night and stayed hot with a 12-2 win over Frazee Post 15 Friday afternoon.
Warroad Post 25 defeated Post 117 6-4 in Friday night’s winners’ bracket semifinal.
On Saturday, Post 117 built a 9-1 lead against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Post 397 but gave up nine unanswered runs in a 10-9 loss.
DGF went on to defeat Warroad 16-2 and 16-1 in back-to-back games to advance to this year’s American Legion Division II State Tournament.
Post 117 gets 10-run win over Frazee
Thief River Falls American Legion Post 117 scored runs in all five at-bats as a team during Friday’s second round game against Frazee Post 15. Post 117 scored three runs in the first, two in the second, three in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth on its way to a 12-2 win.
Bodhi Mossestad led Post 117 with three runs scored. Gannon Zutz, Noah Gonzales, Wade Nelson and Ryan Flaagan scored two runs apiece. Gonzales led Post 117 in hits, going 3-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in. Mossestad went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Wilcox went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Flaagan went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The 12 runs was more than enough support for Jameson Hurst, when pitched a complete game three-hitter. Hurst allowed two unearned runs. He finished the game with nine strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
“Jameson Hurst pitched a great game against Frazee,” Head Coach Xavier Gonzales said. “We thought about taking Jameson out at 45 pitches in case we needed him in the second game. But we decided we didn’t want to take him out and risk it.”
Warroad uses two-run fifth to beat TRF 6-4
Warroad American Legion Post 25 scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie and claim a 6-4 win over Thief River Falls Post 117 in the winner’s bracket semifinal Friday night.
“We lost to Warroad Friday night, 6-4,” Xavier Gonzales said. “Dylan [Osowski] pitched a good game. We lost a pop-up in the infield and gave up a few runs, but we also didn’t hit.”
Friday night’s game was the third meeting of the 2025 Senior Legion season between Post 117 and Post 25, with Post 25 winning all three games. Warroad Post 25 swept the regular season series by scores of 2-0 and 12-2.
Xavier Gonzales noted that Warroad’s pitchers aren’t overpowering, but they consistently throw strikes and play good defense behind them.
Ironically, Thief River Falls was 3-0 against Warroad during the 2025 high school season. The Prowlers defeated the Warriors by scores of 6-2, 3-2 and 5-2.
After scoring 12 runs in its win over Frazee, Post 117 appeared to keep the momentum going early with a run on one hit in the top of the first. Zutz led off the inning with a walk and stole second on the first pitch of the next at-bat and scored later in the inning on a one-out RBI-single by Mossestad.
Post 117’s lead was short-lived, however, with Warroad plating three runs on two hits in the bottom of the first.
Post 25 added to its lead with a run on three hits in the bottom of the third inning. The 4-1 lead stood until Post 117’s at-bat in the top of the fifth.
Bridger Wilcox led off the fifth with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Hurst. Hurst was forced out at second when Nelson hit into a fielder’s choice. Nelson moved to second when Kaleb Mehrkens drew a one-out walk and scored on an RBI-single by Zutz that made it a one-run ballgame. Mehrkens also came around to score on a game-tying sacrifice fly by Cole Johnson.
The game wasn’t tied for long. Post 25 answered the three-run inning with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead, 6-4.
Post 117 went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings to drop into the elimination bracket.
DGF eliminates TRF with 10-9 comeback win
Post 117 appeared to be in firm control for most of Saturday’s elimination game against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Post 397.
Post 117 scored two runs in the first and added another in the second to take an early 3-0 lead.
Post 397 got on the board with a run on one hit in the bottom of the second, but for most of the afternoon, that appeared to be all they would get.
Post 117 added two runs on two hits in the fourth, four runs on three hits in the fourth to take a 9-1 lead.
Mehrkens, Post 117 starter for the elimination game, allowed just one run through five innings before getting into trouble and hitting his pitch limit in the sixth.
“Kaleb was dealing,” Xavier Gonzales said. “We had them off balance. We got off to a great start offensively. We had two guys in scoring positon in the top of the fifth, where we almost got to 11-1 if they score.”
Xavier Gonzales said it would have been tough to remove Mehrkens from the game. In hindsight, he was facing the backend of Post 397’s lineup for the third time at the start of the sixth inning, and by the end, he was facing several batters for the fourth time.
Post 397 sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring nine runs on seven hits, with two walks and a hit-by-pitch aiding its effort. Eight of the nine runs were scored with two outs in the inning.
“The guys were disappointed,” Xavier Gonzales said. “Four outs away. I felt so bad for the team. They had worked so hard and were that close.”
Osowski, Noah Gonzales and Wilcox had multi-hit games for Post 117. Osowski was 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch; Gonzales was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, a walk and an RBI; and Wilcox went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
“Finishing third out of 22 teams is not a bad season,” Xavier Gonzales said. “Considering the injuries we had, missing Bodhi’s arm, missing Jaxon [Hams], missing Landon [Wikert] at second base. The team really stepped up with all the injuries we had going on.
“I couldn’t be more proud of a group than all the adversity that we went through. We had been pretty healthy for two years. Then during the high school playoffs, Bodhi went down. Then we had a freak week last week. Landon Wikert needed emergency eye surgery and Jaxon Hams tore up his ankle. We played some really good baseball these past two weeks. I was really proud of the way we pitched and the way we competed.”
Scoring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF 3 2 3 1 3 X X – 12 10 2
Frazee 0 0 2 0 0 X X – 2 3 7
Batting
TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO
Gannon Zutz ss 3 2 1 2 0 1
Knute Hams 1 0 0 0 0 0
Cole Johnson 3b 3 1 0 1 0 1
Bodhi Mossestad dh 4 3 2 1 0 0
Dylan Osowski lf 3 0 0 0 0 0
Noah Gonzales c 3 2 3 2 0 0
Bridger Wilcox cf 4 0 2 3 0 0
Jameson Hurst p 2 0 0 0 0 2
Wade Nelson 1b 1 2 0 0 2 0
Ryan Flaagan 2b 3 2 2 1 0 0
Totals 27 12 10 10 2 4
Highlights – 2B: Bodhi Mossestad; SB: Bodhi Mossestad 2, Noah Gonzales, Cole Johnson; HBP: Noah Gonzales, Jameson Hurst; SF: Cole Johnson; 3B: Bridger Wilcox; E: Ryan Flaagan, Wade Nelson.
Frazze Post 15 AB R H RBI BB SO
Asher Blaine 2b 2 0 1 1 0 0
Noah Mekalson c 1 0 0 0 0 1
Karson Krause p 2 0 1 0 0 0
Blake Sonnenberg rf 2 0 0 0 0 0
Drew Mekalson 1b 2 0 0 0 0 2
Conner Erickson 3b 2 0 0 0 0 2
Mason Mickelson lf 2 1 1 0 0 1
Dawson Lyman cf 1 1 0 0 0 0
Gavin Holt 1 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 18 2 3 1 0 9
Highlights – E: Adam Vigen, Karson Krause, Mason Mickelson, Conner Erickson 2, Asher Blaine, Drew Mekalson; HBP: Noah Mekalson; CS: Asher Blaine.
Pitching
TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO
Jameson Hurst – W 5.0 3 2 0 0 9
Frazee Post 15 IP H R ER BB SO
Karson Krause – L 5.0 10 12 5 2 4
Scoring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 – 4 4 1
Warroad 3 0 1 0 2 0 X – 6 11 0
Batting
TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO
Gannon Zutz ss 2 1 1 1 1 0
Cole Johnson 3b 2 0 0 1 0 1
Bodhi Mossestad dh 3 0 1 0 0 0
Dylan Osowski p 3 0 0 1 0 1
Noah Gonzales c 3 0 0 0 0 0
Bridger Wilcox cf 3 1 1 0 0 0
Jameson Hurst lf 3 0 1 1 0 0
Wade Nelson 1b 3 1 0 0 0 1
Kaleb Mehrkens rf 2 1 0 0 1 0
Totals 24 4 4 4 2 3
Highlights – SB: Bodhi Mossestad, Gannon Zutz 2; SF: Cole Johnson; 3B: Bridger Wilcox; E: Wade Nelson.
Warroad Post 25 AB R H RBI BB SO
K. Petercheski ss 4 2 2 0 0 0
Ryan Chamernick 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2
Liam Grover 1b 4 2 2 0 0 0
Hudson Sprouls cf 3 2 3 1 1 0
Wesley Schriener 3b 4 0 1 1 0 1
Brady Fast p 3 0 1 0 0 0
Barret Hunveint dh 3 0 1 2 0 1
Zach Rose C 2 0 0 0 1 1
Sam Hard lf 2 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 29 6 11 4 3 5
Highlights – SB: Kaison Petercheski; HBP: Brady Fast; 2B: Hudson Sprouls, Liam Grover; 3B: Hudson Sprouls;CS: Ryan Chamernick.
Pitching
TRF IP H R ER BB SO
Dylan Osowski – L 6.0 11 6 4 3 5
Warroad Post 25 IP H R ER BB SO
Brady Fast – W 7.0 4 4 4 2 3
Scoring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF 2 1 2 4 0 0 0 – 9 9 2
DGF 0 1 0 0 0 9 X – 10 11 1
Batting
TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO
Gannon Zutz ss 3 0 1 2 0 1
Cooper Skjerven 1 0 0 0 0 1
Cole Johnson 3b 2 1 0 1 3 1
Bodhi Mossestad dh 3 1 0 0 1 3
Dylan Osowski rf 4 0 2 0 0 0
Noah Gonzales c 3 2 2 1 1 0
Bridger Wilcox cf 4 1 2 1 0 0
Jameson Hurst lf 3 1 1 1 0 2
Wade Nelson 1b 4 1 0 0 0 1
Ryan Flaagan 2b 3 2 1 0 0 0
Totals 30 9 9 6 5 9
Highlights – HBP: Bodhi Mossestad, Noah Gonzales, Jameson Hurst, Dylan Osowski, Ryan Flaagan, Gannon Zutz; 2B: Jameson Hurst, Gannon Zutz; SF: Bridger Wilcox; SB: Ryan Flaagan, Wade Nelson; E: Gannon Zutz 2.
DGF Post 397 AB R H RBI BB SO
Alex Anderson cf 3 1 2 1 1 1
Dylan Anderson 1b 3 1 1 1 0 1
Landon Johnson p 3 1 1 1 1 0
Cayson Bergee ss 4 0 2 2 0 0
Drew Martin 2b 0 1 0 0 0 0
Wes Hoover c 2 0 1 0 2 0
Zander Deutsch rf 2 1 0 0 0 1
Brad Surerus rf 1 1 1 0 0 0
Logan Thune 1 0 1 2 0 0
J. Baumgartner dh 3 2 1 1 1 0
Tanner Caldwell lf 4 0 1 2 0 2
C. Schreiber 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 30 10 11 10 5 6
Highlights – 2B: Wes Hoover; HBP: Dylan Anderson; E: Tanner Cadwell.
Pitching
TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO
Kaleb Mehrkens 5.2 8 7 6 3 6
Cole Johnson – L 0.1 3 3 3 2 0
DGF Post 397 IP H R ER BB SO
Landon Johnson 2.2 4 5 4 4 4
Alex Anderson – W 4.1 5 4 1 1 5