BISMARCK, N.D. — Behind another stellar performance from Bryson Heck, the Valley City Post 60 Royals punched their ticket to the Class A State Legion Baseball Tournament and extended their winning streak to 13 games with a 9-3 victory over the Bismarck Senators in the West Region semifinals on Friday.

The game opened with early tension as Bismarck loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first. But Heck worked his way out of the jam with minimal damage. A groundout to third, a perfectly executed pickoff, and a strikeout of Senators DH Tate Fischer limited the Senators to just one run.

Valley City wasted no time responding in the bottom half of the inning. Corbyn Powell and Trevor Fetsch drew back-to-back walks before Jack Samuelson tied the game with his second ground-rule double of the tournament. Parker Roelfsema followed with a two-run double down the left field line, and the Royals batted around to plate six runs in the frame. Heck added to his own cause with an RBI single as Post 60 jumped out to a 6-1 lead.

With the cushion in hand, Heck settled in, tossing four more scoreless innings before two errors in the fifth allowed the Senators to cut the deficit to 7-3. But once again, the Royals had an answer. Samuelson knocked in another run with a single to the opposite field in the bottom of the fifth, and a wild pitch in the sixth allowed Leighton Hendrickson to score, pushing the lead back to six runs.

Heck reached the 105-pitch threshold in the seventh inning after recording the first out. Will Schwehr came on in relief and quickly slammed the door with a groundout and a pop-up to secure the 9-3 win.

With the win, Valley City (20-3) clinches a spot in next week’s Class A State Tournament in Casselton and advances to the West Region Championship game, where they’ll take on the Bismarck Representatives at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Broadcast Information:
The championship game and all Valley City postseason games can be heard on 1490 AM / 96.3 FM KOVC and streamed live at NewsDakota.com.