Alex Eisen/MDN Minot Vistas catcher Creighton Rudolph (left) exchanges a fist bump with pitcher Eli Stewart (right) after making a game-winning sliding catch in an American Legion baseball game played earlier this season at Corbett Field.

The highs were exciting. The lows were crushing. It was a roller coaster of a season.

The Minot Vistas (28-16) were difficult to beat when they were clicking, but their fighting spirit wasn’t quite enough in the end. Momentum ran out before reaching the summit.

There is no shame in that. Making an appearance at the North Dakota American Legion baseball state championship game is still a respectable accomplishment, even though it ended in a disheartening 5-2 defeat to the defending state champions Fargo Post #2.

A loss that is still hard to swallow days later.

“With our expectations going in as a No. 6 seed and knowing how talented some of the teams were in front of us, we were happy to get to the state championship,” Vistas coach Pat Arntson said on Tuesday. “But, I think once you get there, then your goals change. And, obviously, altered to win it. We competed, but I think with the way it went and realizing how close we were to having opportunities to win. I don’t think there is a lot of consolation in that.”

A sour conclusion to an exceptional journey. The start of which featured a four-game skid in late June that dropped the Vistas back to .500 at 8-8 overall. Then, a month later, they lost five straight games to conclude the regular season.

Thus, Minot became the No. 6 seed with something to prove in the postseason.

“I think our guys did a really good job of looking at it as an opportunity,” Arntson said. “You never know with 16- to 19-year old kids, like sometimes it might be built up too much inside of them on what’s going on. Our guys looked at it from a pretty optimistic standpoint with the chances that they had in front of them.”

The Vistas powered past No. 3-seeded Dickinson in the first round, 13-4. Only to be pulled back down to Earth with a slim 2-1 loss to Fargo Post #2 in the second round.

Every game from that point on was do-or-die, and they weren’t ready to be done.

“Our guys felt like we’re pretty good, and if we do what we are supposed to, then we can make a little run at this,” Arntson said. “The freedom that we have given them all summer to go play, compete and we kind of get out of their way (created a belief that they could do this). We show them some ways we think we should do things, write lineups and make overall big decisions. But, let them kind of handle the game.”

The Vistas took care of business.

Creighton Rudolph provided a walk-off winner to beat Bismarck for the first time all season, Lofton Klabunde lifted a grand slam that helped carry the Vistas over previously unbeaten Fargo Post #2 and, showing no mercy, they mercy ruled top-seeded West Fargo 10-0 in eight innings for the right to play for the Class AA Legion Baseball state championship.

For the third time in the state tournament, Minot had a date against Fargo Post #2.

“The biggest problem was that we hadn’t scored against Fargo,” Arntson said. “We lost 10-0 and 12-2 at their place (in the regular season), then you lose 2-1. We got the pitching we needed and our guys knew that was probably our chance to beat them and we didn’t. For them to rally and beat them the second time we saw them really turned the tide a bit.”

The grudge match, however, went to Fargo, 5-2, and ended the Vistas’ Cinderella run. Or, perhaps, the showing at the state tournament shouldn’t have come as much surprise?

The Vistas were nearly unbeatable at home. Between losing the home opener and the home finale, Minot won 14 straight games at Corbett Field. That included going undefeated in their home tournament in late June and into early July.

The five-game winning streak in their home tournament triumph sparked an impressive run of form, as the Vistas went on to rattle off 16 wins in 17 games. A precursor sign that Minot deserved to be taken seriously at the state tournament, despite its trivial No. 6 seed.

Minot’s top offensive performers on the year included Derek Bartsch with team highs in average (.341) and RBIs (36), Lofton Klabunde (.338 average, 34 RBIs) and Conor Taney (.328 average, 27 RBIs).

Johnny Tubbs led the team with six home runs and the Vistas cranked out 22 as a team.

Easton Bennett hit over .300 and stole a team-high 15 bases, plus came up with clutch hits on multiple occasions.

On the mound, 10 different pitchers threw 10 or more innings throughout the season. Accumulating the most innings were Carson Tonini (4-3 record, 3.22 ERA and team-high 56 strikeouts), Alex Schimke (4-1 record and 4.07 ERA) and Eli Stewart (4-2 record and 3.97 ERA).

Bartsch (3-0), Taney (3-0) and Rudolph (1-0) all went undefeated on the hill. Kyler Stenberg, Stewart, Bennett and Rudolph each picked up saves.

Noah Tate and Broden Wunderlich both finished with perfect fielding percentages with 44 combined putouts and 11 assists.

Statistics aside, the Vistas’ willingness to battle at the state tournament is what Arntson is going to remember most about this team.

“We finished tough,” he said. “To go from a five-game losing streak at the end of the regular season to making a run and getting to the state championship, I think that’s a pretty good testament to the way our guys were as competitors. They didn’t hang their heads. I’ll be really fond looking back on that.”

Wrapping up their playing days with the Vistas are Bartsch, Taney, Bennett, Tate and Paxten Wahlund.

“They allowed us to implement the culture and style of play that we wanted. They really ran with it,” Arntson said. “If they didn’t get on board with it, then it would have been really hard for us to get these guys to play the way they want… I think they really helped us establish the type of program we want to coach.”

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