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Vistas give gritty performance in loss to West Fargo

The Minot Vistas had three comebacks in their arsenal against the defending state champions in the opening round of the Class AA state tournament, but unfortunately they would need a fourth that didn’t come to fruition, falling 6-4 to West Fargo on July 29.

The Vistas rallied from 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but a two-run bottom of the sixth from the Patriots proved to be the final nail in the coffin. As a result, the Vistas fall into the loser’s bracket and will need to rattle off seven consecutive victories to win the program’s 11th state tournament. Another loss ends their season.

With the score tied for the third time, West Fargo’s Jett Collins put his team ahead for good with his third hit of the game, an RBI single in the sixth to score Trey Husar. Tatem Herrmann followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Landon Zink for a two-run advantage.

Minot didn’t have one final rally in them, as the Vistas went down in order in the seventh.

The Patriots (37-13-1) took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, taking advantage of a pair of Minot errors in the process. Husar reached on an error to open the game and would eventually come around to score West Fargo’s first run on Collins’ first RBI hit of the afternoon. Collins would reach home as a result of Minot’s second error.

The Vistas (31-15) drew even in the fourth. Oliver Deschamp and Drew Jordan delivered back-to-back RBI singles to drive in Brody Mueller and Carson Deaver. Minot strung together four hits in the inning off West Fargo starting pitcher Luke Finn.

Despite never grabbing the lead outright, Minot matched West Fargo run for run the next couple innings. The Patriots took a brief 3-2 lead after four, only for Tre Stewart to leadoff the fifth with a double and score on another double off the bat of Braden Nelson. The Vistas had a chance at the lead with the bases loaded and one out, but Deschamp grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

The Patriots reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the fifth for a 4-3 advantage, but again the Vistas had a response in the top of the sixth, with Mason Stewart plating the tying run.

The Vistas recorded 10 hits, led by a pair from Deaver, Tegan Schindler and Mason Stewart.

Collins and Herrmann led the Patriots with three hits and two RBIs apiece.

Mueller got the starting nod for the Vistas and went five innings, allowing five runs – three earned – on 10 hits. Husar picked up the win in relief for West Fargo, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits.

The Vistas are back in action July 30 in an elimination game against Jamestown at 1 p.m.

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