saints

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – After having five straight games cancelled, the Valley City Saints amateur baseball team returned to action for the first time in 25 days on Sunday as they hosted the Mayville Red Caps at Charlie Brown Field for the final home game of the season.

However, there did not appear to be any rust as the Saints exploded for 12 hits and used a five run second inning to defeat Mayville 11-5.

After a 1-2-3 top of the 1st by Saints starter Dustin Mertz, the Saints got on the board right away in the bottom half off Mayville starter Aaron Willey. Carlos Turpo led off with a single and later stole second. Turpo moved over to third on a Jake Miller flyout to right. Mertz would help his own cause with an RBI double to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Mayville would tie the game at 1 as Mickey Berry would lead off the top of the 2nd with a triple and would later score on a wild pitch.

Jesse Johnson led off the bottom of the 2nd for the Saints with a double off the left field fence. Will Hough then reached on a fielding error by the third baseman. Joe Cummings then drew a one out walk to load the bases. Turpo then drove Johnson in with an infield single between third and short. The shortstop’s throw sailed over the first baseman which allowed Hough to score as well, giving the Saints a 3-1 lead. An infield single by Grady Karges loaded the bases. Mertz again would come through as he cleared the bases with a triple padding the Saints lead to 6-1.

However, the Saints were not done as in the bottom of the 3rd, Braxton Jorissen led off with a triple. Two batters later, Hough gave the Saints a 7-1 lead as he drove in Jorissen with an RBI single. The seven runs in three innings by the Saints was as many as they had scored in their previous 41 offensive innings combined, which spanned five plus games.

The Saints would make it 8-1 with a two out rally in the bottom of the 5th off reliever Ryan Froemke. Johnson began the rally with a single, then Hough struck again as he roped an RBI double off the center field fence scoring Johnson in the process.

The Red Caps would finally get to Mertz in the top of the 6th with three runs of their own. Anthony Villanueva led off the 6th with a single. Then after a passed ball and wild pitch, Alex Berry drew a walk putting runners on the corners. The next batter, Marcus Wohl, flew out to center. A strong throw by Karges held Villanueva at 3rd; however, the throw was way offline and went to the backstop, scoring Villaneuava. Mickey Berry made it 8-3 as he doubled in his brother Alex. Caleb Jameson added an RBI double to make the score 8-4.

The Saints did not flinch though as they curtailed Mayville’s comeback in the bottom of the 7th. Miller led off with a single, followed by back-to-back walks by Mertz and Seth Soderholm which loaded the bases for Braxton Jorissen. Jorissen smoked a double to left center off the fence which scored all three runners on base making the score 11-4. Mayville would tack on a run in the top of the 8th on a Mickey Berry RBI double to make it 11-5.

Mertz would pick up his first win of the season on the mound for the Saints as he went six innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking three, and striking out eight. Johnson would get his first save of the season as he pitched the final three innings only allowing a single run on two hits while striking out four.

Offensively, all but one starter scored a run for the Saints and five players collected multiple hits with Turpo having three of them. Mertz would go 2-for-3 with a double, triple, a walk, and four RBI. Jorissen went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, and 3 RBI. Hough went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI.

With the win, the Saints improved to 7-6 and will resume action tonight as they travel to Casselton to take on the Cass County Catfish. First pitch will be at 7:00.