VALLEY CITY, N.D. — Valley City Post 60 couldn’t solve the trio of Edgeley pitchers on Friday, falling 2-0 in a first-round matchup of the Valley City Mid-Summer Classic.

Edgeley’s Trent Johnson, Jacob Nitschke and Brady Hanson combined to throw a one-hit shutout, silencing the Royals’ bats and stranding the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh inning.

Valley City threatened early, putting runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the first. But a strikeout followed by a flyout to center field ended the scoring opportunity.

Edgeley capitalized in the top of the third when a routine ground ball took a bad hop over the head of James Schwehr, leading to the game’s first run. Schwehr was lifted in the inning for Luke Praska, who delivered a strong relief outing, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing just one run.

That second run came in the sixth, when Edgeley pieced together a walk, a bloop single, and a line-drive RBI to extend the lead to 2-0.

Post 60 put a runner aboard in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Hanson notched a strikeout to end the game and complete the combined shutout for Edgeley.

Valley City will return to action Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Lisbon. The game will be broadcast live on 1490 AM / 96.3 FM KOVC and streamed online at NewsDakota.com.