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State bound Bulldogs

Familiar foe, pitching dilemma awaits Burlington at state

Alex Eisen/MDN Burlington players Noah Zietz, Jarrett Vendsel, Arron Grandy and John Koronka (left to right) pose for a picture with the American Legion Baseball Class B West Region championship plaque on Sunday in Lansford.

There was more than just hardware on the line Sunday when the Burlington Bulldogs beat Hazen for the American Legion Baseball Class B West Region championship.

Seeding at the state tournament hung in the balance, as both teams wanted to avoid a first round meeting against three-time defending state champions Carrington.

“Getting that one seed really helps because then you get the two seed of a different region,” Burlington coach Sean Arbaut said on Saturday. “I heard we are paired up in Carrington’s region and they are one of the bigger teams, so if we are the two seed we will probably see Carrington.”

That logic held up, and Burlington (17-10, 15-4 West Region) bounced to the other side of the eight team, double elimination bracket with a regional title in hand. The Bulldogs, instead, will get Central Region runner-up Kidder County Post 231 in the first round. A team they are surprisingly quite familiar with.

“They were in our region last year, so we know them pretty well,” Arbaut said. “They actually knocked us out of the West Region tournament to go to state, so a little bit of trying to get back at them.”

This is Burlington’s first appearance at the state tournament since 2014. That same year, Arbaut was the coach of Burlington’s Babe Ruth team that also went to state.

Seven current starters on the legion team and three bench players were on that Babe Ruth team with three players also on the past 2014 legion team. So, they have some state tournament experience under their belts.

Offensively, Burlington will turn to Arron Grandy (.484 average, 25 RBIs), Jarrett Vendsel (.422 average, 30 RBIs) and John Koronka (.405 average, 22 RBIs) in the heart of its lineup to carry the load.

Plus, there is the bat of Jacob Ruden (.298 average, 14 RBIs) and the speed of lead-off hitter Noah Zietz (.410 average, 18 stolen bases). In 24 games played and not counting the three forfeit wins, Burlington scored 198 runs or 8.25 runs per game.

Burlington’s success, however, is going to start with pitching. And, on the mound, the Bulldogs need to tweak their rotation due to heavy pitch counts accumulated at the West Region tournament.

“It will affect us the first couple of days,” Arbaut said. “Because Noah (Zietz) can’t pitch and he has kind of been my go-to guy lately. John (Koronka) will be able to start the first day and Jarrett (Vendsel) will be able to throw the second day. I also got Jacob Ruden, who was thrown for us a little bit this year, and Arron Grandy, who is usually catching. So, I’m not too worried about it.”

Koronka (3-2) comes into the tournament with 33 2/3 innings pitched, bolstering a 4.10 ERA and 53 strikeouts. Vendsel leads the team in strikeouts (55) and ERA (2.31) in 33 1/3 innings pitched.

Zietz is a perfect 5-0 on the season with a 2.76 ERA and thrown a team-high 617 pitches in 38 innings of work. He pitched a complete game, allowing one run on Sunday against Hazen to help Burlington capture the regional title.

“We get a little better seed at the state tournament and we will have a lot of fun there,” Zietz said after the victory on Sunday. “I’m hoping we just do our best, get some good hits in and see some good teams play.”

The Class B state tournament runs from Wednesday to Sunday in Steele. Burlington has the late game, starting at 6:30 p.m., on Wednesday against Kidder County.

In the other first round contests on Wednesday, Carrington takes on Hazen at 10 a.m., followed by Enderlin against Nelson County and then Thompson battles Oakes.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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