Facing the possibility of an early exit at the state tournament, the Minot Vistas turned to Nick Thomas on the mound to keep the team’s postseason alive.

He delivered.

Thomas went six strong innings, allowing just two runs on three hits on 85 pitches as the Vistas defeated Jamestown, 4-2, on July 30 to keep their hopes of a state title alive. Thomas retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and Jamestown didn’t put a runner in scoring position until the fifth inning.

Minot’s defense played strong behind its starter, playing an errorless game in the field. Thomas allowed his first hit of the contest with two outs in the third inning on a single to left by lead-off man Thomas Newman. The inning ended not soon after when Minot catcher Kellan Burke threw out Newman trying to steal second.

After a one-out walk to Jamestown’s Bennett Goehner in the fourth, Thomas got Jaxson Kolpin to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

The Vistas (32-15) gave Thomas some offensive support with a run in the second and another in the third. Oliver Deschamp reached on a fielder’s choice in the second and would come around to score on a wild pitch from Kolpin – Jamestown’s starting pitcher. An RBI single off the bat of Braden Nelson plated Tre Stewart to give the Vistas a 2-0 lead.

Minot doubled its advantage with a pair of runs in the fifth on a blast from Burke. With a runner on first and facing a 3-2 count, Burke crushed a two-run home run to right-center for the team’s first long ball of the tournament.

The Eagles (12-31) got on the board in the sixth with a pair of runs of their own to trim Minot’s advantage in half. Kolpin helped out his own cause with a bases-loaded single to score Newman and Kale Verke. But Kolpin was thrown out trying to extend the hit to a double and Ethan Oettle – representing the tying run at the plate – grounded out to third to end the inning.

Tre Stewart came on in relief in the seventh and struck out the side to end Jamestown’s season.

Burke and Drew Johnson led Minot’s offense with a pair of hits each.

Kolpin suffered the loss for the Eagles, pitching all six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out three and walking four.

Minot plays another elimination game on July 31 against top-seeded Fargo Post 2 at 1 p.m.