Alex Eisen/MDN Minot Vistas pitcher Aydan Almy (11) winds up a pitch against Fargo Post 2 in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday evening at Corbett Field in Minot.

The Minot Vistas hit an early low point last Saturday evening when West Fargo came to town and smacked them around. Minot lost both games of the doubleheader by final scores of 17-1 and 4-0.

Three days later, on Tuesday, the defending American Legion state and regional champion Fargo Post 2 squad showed up at Corbett Field.

While Minot (3-3) surrendered a crucial grand slam to Cole Hage in the sixth inning to drop the first game 12-3, the Vistas hunkered down to force a split with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

It was the first loss (4-1) of the young season for Fargo Post 2.

“This feels really good,” Vistas infielder Kersey Harris said. “They’re missing a few kids from last year, but it always feels good to at least get one game from Post 2.”

Fargo struck first in Game 1 with an RBI single by Sam Moser in the second inning followed by an RBI double by Hage in the third inning. The Vistas answered right back with a pair of runs coming off a bulk and RBI single by Logan Merck in the fourth inning.

The 2-2 deadlock was broken in the sixth inning when Fargo was able to string together multiple hits against Vistas starting pitcher Aydan Almy. RBI singles for Daniel Boutain and Jace Dew put Post 2 ahead 4-2.

Almy, after a decent outing, handed the ball off to relief pitcher Trent Greek in a dangerous situation with the bases loaded. Greek wasn’t able to escape the one-out jam. Hage took Greek deep on a 2-0 count for a momentum-shifting grand slam over the fence in left center, 8-2.

“It got out of hand late,” Vistas head coach Pat Arntson said. “We made the choice to go to the pen because we didn’t want them to see Aydan (Almy) again. It didn’t work in our favor. But I thought we had a better plan at the plate and executed better.”

Following an RBI sacrifice fly by Vistas right fielder Talon Hebert in the bottom half of the sixth, Fargo exploded again for four more runs in the seventh. Boutain, Hage and Zach Kluvers all picked up RBIs to increase Fargo’s advantage to 12-3.

The Vistas went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Fargo’s Tyler Thrash threw a complete-game allowing two earned runs on nine hits.

Fargo finished with 14 hits from eight different players. Hage and Dew each collected three hits apiece.

Kluvers gave Fargo a 1-0 lead to start Game 2 with an RBI double in the top of the first. He then found himself on the mound relieving starting pitcher Elias Harris in the second inning.

Harris lost control of the zone and hit two batters to load the bases with no outs, and then walked in Hebert to tie the game at 1-1. The Vistas added two more runs in the inning on another bases-loaded walk to Braedon McCarty and an RBI flyout by Chase Burke.

Fargo Post 2 left the bases loaded in the top of the third inning. Both offenses stalled out from that point on.

Minot Vistas left-handed starting pitcher Tyler Harbort keep Fargo in-check through six innings. He got out of the sixth with a high fastball to strikeout Moser with runners on the corners.

“(Harbort) was mixing speeds, and that’s why he does so well,” Arntson said. “He’s a soft lefty, and everybody wants fastballs. Everyone prefers fastballs, so when you don’t ever truly get one, it is maddening for hitters. You saw that tonight. It was soft, soft, soft and then he throws a fastball. It looks much firmer than it actually is because they haven’t seen it. He pitched awesome.”

Harbort walked the first batter he faced to start the seventh. Arntson didn’t risk keeping a fatigued Harbort in and called upon hard-throwing Burke to close out the contest.

“I was feeling tired,” Harbort said. “But it’s alright. We got the win.”

The Vistas turned a sparkling 5-3-6 double play, and Burke struck out Dew looking to cap the 3-1 victory in the nightcap rematch. Harbort got the win on the mound and Burke picked up the save.

“A lot of players haven’t seen a lefty, and I put a lot of spin on the ball,” Harbort said about his advantage of being a left-handed pitcher. “I was a little nervous at first, but I just got into it and my team had my back.”

At the plate, Calvin Watkins and Harris both went 4-for-5 across the doubleheader for the Vistas.

“I haven’t been swinging the bat really well, so I went out there looking for that first strike,” Harris said. “This game I hammered them, and I’m glad I could get out of this slump a little bit.”

The Vistas have a quick turnaround as they travel to face Fargo Post 400 for a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. this evening.

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