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Muskrats win both games against Velva, 12-1 and 10-3

Justin Martinez/MDN Renville County pitcher Henry Savelkoul throws the ball toward the plate during the Muskrats’ 12-1 road win over Velva on Wednesday.

VELVA — Cool as can be, Renville County’s Dalton Moberg walked up to the plate and went to work.

With a runner on first base and two outs, the heavy hitter calmly swung his bat back and forth. It was the top of the opening inning Wednesday in Renville County’s road doubleheader against the Velva 39ers, and Moberg had every intention of delivering an early message.

“You just have to be confident,” Moberg said. “You have to believe that you can hit the ball and don’t be worried about it.”

Challenging him on the mound was Velva’s Jersey Selzler, who now had his glove up to his chest. Selzler went through the motion and sent a fastball right up the middle of the strike zone.

Moberg pulled the trigger. In one swift motion, he sent the ball high into the air and watched as it found a patch of grass between the left and center outfielders.

One run came in before either of the scrambling 39ers could grab the spherical projectile, and Moberg reached second base with ease for the RBI double.

Little did Velva know, this was only the beginning.

That explosive hitting proved to be contagious for the Muskrats on Wednesday as they gave the run column on the scoreboard a workout en route to a pair of Class B American Legion baseball wins by scores of 12-1 and 10-3.

“We had very good hitting today, pitchers threw strikes and our defense made plays,” Renville head coach Bart Savelkoul said. “It was a good, clean game with not too many errors. We played 16 guys, so it was a good effort from everybody.”

It didn’t take very long for Renville to add to its early edge. Brock Depute doubled the lead on the very next at-bat with an RBI single, and an unearned run in the second inning gave the Muskrats a 3-0 advantage.

The game officially reached “getting out of hand” status in the top of the third inning when the road team erupted for six runs.

The highlight came courtesy of Kaleb Foltyn, who beat the throw to first base on a ground ball for an RBI single. The ball then eluded Velva’s first baseman and allowed another runner to score, making it a 7-0 contest.

“It took some pressure off of us to get some (runs) right away,” Moberg said. “But we knew that we had to stick with it. We couldn’t let our guard down.”

Tace Pederson brought home Velva’s only run in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI single, but the Muskrats shut down any hopes of a comeback thanks in part to Henry Savelkoul.

The veteran ace allowed just six hits and ended the sixth inning in style with a strikeout to secure the complete game and the mercy-rule win, 12-1.

“I decided to mix it up a little bit and put some sidearm in there,” Henry Savelkoul said. “That gave (Velva) two different looks. It definitely helps to have those runs behind you, too. They just boost your confidence as a pitcher.”

The 39ers struck first in the bottom of Game 2’s opening inning when they took a 1-0 lead off an unearned run, but the Muskrats quickly regained control.

Renville’s Charlie Eriksmoen knotted the score in the top of the second inning with an RBI single down the third-base line, and Foltyn did the rest. The speedster flexed his muscles two at-bats later with a monstrous hit up the middle of the field.

The ball landed just a few feet short of the fence and allowed two runs to come in before Foltyn reached third base for the triple. When the storm cleared, Renville tallied five runs in the inning to take a 5-1 lead.

“We knew we just had to be resilient and fight back,” Moberg said. “You have to score to win, so we knew we had to get some runs in.”

The 39ers didn’t go down without a fight, though. Peterson came through once again with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning, and Ricky Gonzales trimmed the deficit to 7-3 in the following inning with an RBI single.

But that’s the closest Velva came, and the Muskrats secured the 10-3 victory.

Velva will try to rebound today at 5 p.m. when it plays Makoti in a road doubleheader.

Justin Martinez covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JTheSportsDude.

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