Jimmy Lafakis/MDN Minot Metros infielder Carter Mowbray sprints to home plate during Game 1 of Monday evening's doubleheader against the Dickinson Volunteers at Corbett Field. The Volunteers earned a 10-7 victory in Game 1, while the Metros took a 3-1 win in the nightcap.

Jayce Concha and the Dickinson Volunteers brought some early pop to Corbett Field during Monday evening’s doubleheader.

Dickinson plated runs in the first five innings of Game 1 against the Minot Metros. The Volunteers captured a 10-7 win before the Metros seized a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.

“We’ve got to get better,” Metros head coach Dalton Cooper said. “We were on a little bit of a roll there. Obviously, we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get better at coming and making plays happen instead of letting plays come to us. We’ve got to go out there, we’ve got to hit the ball. We’ve got to be able to do stuff like that.”

Concha became the heart of the order’s catalyst in the first inning. With two runners on base, he ripped a stand-up triple to the outfield.

That powerful drive set the tone. Minot’s Eli Nissen responded with an RBI single, but Dickinson matched that effort in the top of the second inning. The Metros scored three runs after Tyler Budeau and Morgan Nygaard displayed vigilance on the base paths.

Trailing 4-3, the Volunteers struck for their biggest inning of the first contest. A blooper to right field, a bases-loaded walk and a throw that skipped to left field helped Dickinson tally four runs.

The Volunteers continued to separate themselves in the subsequent innings. Alden Hoerner and Hunter Deschamp kept the line moving with productive at-bats.

Minot chipped away in the final frames. The Metros scored three runs in the last two innings, but Dickinson had created too much separation.

After the 10-7 decision went final, the Corbett scoreboard revealed two interesting tidbits. The Metros racked up 11 hits to the Volunteers’ nine, while both teams committed four errors.

“Game 2, bouncing back and getting that win is big,” Cooper said. “Come the state tournament and the regional tournament, if you lose two games, you’re done. Refocusing, understanding that there is still work to get done and getting that win was good to see.”

Nissen made an immediate impact in the second game. His RBI double up the middle gave the Metros a jolt of energy in the bottom of the first inning.

Nissen gave credit to his teammates for their encouragement.

“Having them cheer you on, it makes you feel good,” Nissen said. “It helps everybody get going into the game. It gets everybody good hits.”

Neither squad scratched in the second inning. In the third, Minot’s Calvin Baker added another crooked number with a sharp RBI knock through the left side.

While nursing a 2-0 lead, Minot southpaw hurler Josh Will stifled Dickinson’s offense in the top of the fourth. Jonas Bubach hustled home for an insurance run in the bottom half of that inning.

“The defense made a lot of nice plays for me tonight,” Will said. “They twisted a couple of double plays. That was really nice to see. Just staying composed and getting ahead early in the count really helps me out. Then, I can get into a rhythm and just get grooving.”

Dickinson scored a run on an RBI groundout in the top of the fifth, but Will limited the damage. He finished the complete game and polished off the 3-1 win.

“Josh did great,” Cooper said. “He’s going to be big for us coming up here in this stretch of games that we have this next week, two weeks, heading into the postseason. We’re going to need him to throw a ton of strikes. That’s exactly what he did today.”

The Metros will not have much time to rest. They will host the Bismarck Senators at 5 p.m. this evening.

“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Cooper said. “They love to be out here. They love to play baseball. They like to be hanging out with each other. Getting them focused, we don’t have to do a whole lot of it. They understand that there’s a task at hand.”

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.