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Too close for comfort

MHS baseball improves to 6-0 with one-run wins over Jamestown

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot High sophomore Derek Nygaard (right) fields a ground ball in a West Region game Tuesday against Jamestown at Corbett Field in Minot.

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was enough to keep the Minot High School baseball team undefeated early in the season.

The Magicians (6-0, 4-0 WDA) edged Jamestown (2-2, 2-2 WDA) in a pair of one-run games, 4-3 and 3-2, Tuesday evening at Corbett Field to sweep their third straight doubleheader.

“I thought our pitchers were doing alright, but we left too many guys on base and had some base running errors,” MHS coach Pete Stenberg said. “We are still learning the game of baseball this early in the spring. I was happy with our steadiness from the first pitch to the last pitch. And with two one-run ballgames, that’s kind of what you want to be in to see how your kids respond.”

The Magi were up for the challenge.

After giving up the first two runs of Game 1, MHS took the lead in the fourth inning with senior Carson Gillund and sophomore Derek Nygaard hitting RBI singles. Senior Paxten Wahlund bought in the other run with a spinning ball in the infield that eluded Blue Jays starting pitcher Kohl Kratz.

Alex Eisen/MDN Magi junior Alex Schimke (right) expresses his shock after a Jamestown runner is called safe at second base Tuesday at Corbett Field.

Doing everything he could for MHS starting pitcher Lofton Klabunde, senior catcher Creighton Rudolph nearly made one of the plays of the season by going headfirst over the dugout railing to catch a foul ball.

“I almost caught it,” Rudolph said. “(The umpire) signaled out, but I didn’t have the ball in my glove. I tried to hide it a little bit and I tried to find a ball on the bench. I couldn’t find one. Then, the Jamestown kid said, ‘He doesn’t even have the ball.’ So, that’s how that happened.”

Rudolph laughed off trying to pull off the ultimate hoax after the game, and even got a friendly jab in on Magi Game 2 starting pitcher Alex Schimke as well.

“You just try to give max effort 100 percent of the time,” Rudolph said. “Guys aren’t throwing strikes enough and you want to help your pitcher out… (Rudolph jokingly looked over at Schimke). ‘What’s your problem, huh?’ Schimke can’t throw enough strikes, so I have to go make plays like that for him.”

In the sixth, Jamestown’s Aaron Kleven found the hole between first and second base to even the score at 3-3. Kleven finished with two RBIs and Drew Murray crossed home plate on all of the Blue Jays’ runs.

No longer in line for the win on the mound, Klabunde started the decisive rally in the seventh inning with his bat. After having a double down the left line brought back on a debatable foul ball call, Klabunde beat the shift to where the second baseman should have been for a single.

Carson Tonini followed that up with a sharp line drive over the head of the shortstop. The ball eluded the outfielders and rolled all the way to the wall, which was unbeknownst to Klabunde as he slid headfirst into third base.

Yet, Klabunde quickly picked himself up and strolled home to score the game-winning run.

Tonini found himself holding his arms up in disbelief near third base when the Magi poured out of the dugout to celebrate.

“Jamestown does the little things right,” Stenberg said. “So, if you can get one game from them, it’s great. If you can get a sweep, it’s awesome.”

Schimke made it an ‘awesome’ evening by pitching six strong innings in Game 2. He gave up three hits and both of the Blue Jays’ runs (one earned).

“I just felt good from the start,” Schimke said. “We have been told to pitch to contact and that’s what we like to do. That’s what I try to do. I trust all my guys behind me to make plays.”

MHS scored first in the bottom of the first, 1-0, after the Blue Jays had trouble getting the ball in from the outfield.

Jamestown took the lead with an RBI groundout by Ty Fischer in the third and an RBI single by Drew Murray in the fourth.

Rudolph came to Schimke’s aid in the four with a solo home run to right field to tie the game, 2-2. It was Rudolph’s second career home run after hitting his first one this last weekend in Watford City.

“I’m just trying to put good swings on it and help the team out the best way I can,” Rudolph said. “If it goes over the wall that counts as a run, so it helps us.”

Schimke took matters into his own hands in the fifth. After Klabunde turned a routine single into a trip to third base off a fielding error, Schimke brought him in with a sacrifice fly.

Nygaard stepped in for Schimke and had a flawless 1-2-3 inning in the seventh to pick up the save.

“It’s nice,” Schimke said about starting 6-0. “But, obviously it’s early and a lot can happen. We are just trying to build and get better each day. Hopefully, it works out in the end.”

The Magi travel to Williston on Thursday for a nonconference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

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

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