FARGO (FNS) — With no hits in his first six official at-bats in the state tournament, Wil Gaarder was in one of his longest hitless streaks of the season. But the senior broke out in a big way here Friday.

Gaarder’s single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the game’s lone run as Park River/Fordville-Lankin edged Bismarck Shiloh Christian 1-0 in the semifinals of the North Dakota Class B high school baseball tournament at Newman Outddor Field.

Park River/F-L meets Thompson in the state championship game at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday. The Aggies beat Thompson in the state title game each of the last two seasons.

“It’s happened before,” Gaarder said of his slump. ”You just have to break out of it, to trust yourself and have confidence. I really wanted to bat at that point. I don’t care if I’m struggling. I always want to hit.”

Brady Omdahl opened the bottom of the seventh by reaching on an error. After Kaleb Hodny sacrificed pinch runner Joe Larson to second, Nate Zavalney was intentionally walked and Nick Thompson singled to load the bases.

Adam Zavalney popped out for the second out. But Gaarder pulled the first pitch he saw into left field for a single to drive in Larson. “I was definitely thinking it was getting down. I was pretty hyped,” Gaarder said.

Nate Zavalney on second base wasn’t so sure. “I thought the left fielder had a play on it,” he said. “He hit it just soft enough. That was a big hit.”

Said PR/F-L coach Brett Omdahl: “The ball was having a hard time getting out tonight. To have Gaarder up, who can find the gaps, it was a good situation for us.

“Typically for any ballplayer, there are hills and valleys. He’s been pretty consistent.”

Nate Zavalney pitched a complete game to pick up the win. He allowed only three hits, striking out five and walking only one. The Skyhawks had only two runners reach second base and none advanced beyond it.

“Do we want to be in a 1-0 game? Yes, if we’re the one. The big thing is we came up big on the defensive end,” Brett Omdahl said, mentioning catches by Hodny, Gaarder and Lane Bell.

“Combine that (defense) with Nate Zavalney’s performance and it’s nice to come out on top.”

Park River/Fordville-Lankin managed only five hits, two of them by Thompson.

Shiloh Christian also played well defensively. The Skyhawks’ big play was right fielder Josh Kolling throwing out an Aggies runner at home for the third out of the fifth inning.

Odenbach’s pitching helps Thompson reach Class B state baseball title game