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CITY (NewsDakota.com)–Enderlin won a drama-filled fifth-place game, while Kindred dominated Valley City for third during the final day of the Leevers Classic American Legion baseball tournament Sunday.
Enderlin took a 5-0 lead after two-and-a-half, only to watch the Fargo Metro Expos reach safely in eight-straight at-bats in the bottom of the third, with seven straight scoring, to trail 7-5.
Enderlin got a run back in the fourth, gave one back in the bottom, then took the lead on back-to-back doubles by Tanner Groth and Dan Lindgren and a throwing error, plating three for a 9-8 lead in the sixth.
Groth, who relieved starter Thomas Lindgren in the third, was cruising, sending down eight in a row in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. The bats then used three hits, three free passes, and an error to score five more in the seventh for a 14-8 edge.
They would need every run.
Back-to-back walks to start the seventh chased Groth, and reliever Dan Lindgren allowed back-to-back singles, then walked a man with two outs to load the bases. Expo Joe Brunner then delivered a three-RBI double, cutting the lead to one.
Brunner would reach third on an error, but Lindgren, with the tying run 90 feet away, got Justin Odney to chase high heat for a strikeout to end the game with a 14-13 win.
Seventeen men scored runs between the two teams. Groth earned the win and smashed the ball all day, finishing 4-5 with two doubles and three runs. Brunner lead the Expos with two doubles, and Dillon Boe was 2-3 with two runs.
The next game had little drama, as Kindred plated 11 runs in three innings against a pitcher-by-committee effort from Valley City, winning 15-3 in five innings for third place.
Ten men hit for Kindred in the second inning, with seven runs tallied, chasing Valley City starter Josh Gilbertson after 1.2 innings. Zach Nelson was 3-3 in the game, and Austin Dahlgren doubled and scored twice.
Valley City mustered three runs in the second, but committed seven more errors, running their error count to 23 for the tournament. Fifteen players appeared and three pitchers threw, with Gilbertson taking the loss.
Dahlgren earned the win, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out six.