Minot North’s Gannon Hedberg appeared in eight games on the mound this season, registering a 3.86 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. The Sentinels are the No. 2 seed in the WDA Tournament, which begins on Thursday, May 21, at Municipal Ballpark in Bismarck. Nathan Beitler/MDN

It wasn’t quite worst-to-first, but it was close for the Minot North baseball team in its second full season as a varsity program.

A year after finishing 3-20 overall and 3-17 in conference play, landing them 10th out of 11th in the WDA standings and losing in the play-in round to Bismarck Century, the Sentinels underwent a 13-game improvement and won 11 more WDA contests to grab the No. 2 seed in the WDA Tournament.

Minot North (16-7 overall, 14-6 WDA) will play No. 7 seed Williston in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, May 21, at Municipal Ballpark in Bismarck at 4:30 p.m. The Coyotes defeated Bismarck St. Mary’s, 2-1, in the play-in round. Minot North swept a non-conference doubleheader with WIlliston to start the season before splitting the conference twinbill on April 10. The Sentinels matched their win total from their inaugural varsity season in their first four games this year.

The Sentinels improved in all facets of the game, as their offense put up more runs, their pitchers threw strikes and the defense behind them played clean and minimized their errors. Minot North scored just 52 total runs in 23 games last season and allowed 170. The Sentinels never scored more than six runs in a game and surrendered 10-plus runs in seven contests. This year, Minot North registered 132 runs, eclipsing 10 runs in five games, scoring a program-record 13 against Watford City on May 5. Defensively, the Sentinels allowed 112 runs, holding opponents to two or fewer runs nine times. Above all, Minot North’s discipline at the plate was a big key for the quick turnaround.

“Our pitching staff, I believed was going to be good and we had some guys that had a lot of success in the summer, too,” Minot North coach Bryan Krahler said. “But we struck out over 180 times last year and we almost cut that number in half. Just putting pressure on teams and putting the ball in play and just not giving away at-bats has been probably our biggest improvement overall.”

Leading the turnaround was senior captain Brody Mueller, who hit a scorching .486 during the regular season, compiling 35 total hits, including six doubles, three triples and three home runs. He collected 24 RBIs and scored 15 runs. He was the team leader in hits, singles (23), doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs and walks (15).

“He has so many high expectations on him and the most impressive part is that I think he reached or exceeded them,” Krahler said. “He puts pressure on himself as any good player does. But for him to be able to lead us on the mound, lead us with the bat, he does so much for us. He just handles it really well and is probably one of the most humble kids you’d ever meet. You’ll never see him bragging or talking about himself.”

Six other Minot North players hit above .300. Mason Stewart was second on the team with 25 hits, batting .329. He drove in 12 runs and led the team with 22 runs scored. Levi Balas also had more than 20 hits on the season and registered 15 RBIs – second-most on the team.

The Sentinels used a plethora of arms this year, as five tossed at least 16 innings. Mueller was leaned on the most, throwing a team-high 34 innings across seven starts. He was 5-0 with a 2.68 ERA, allowing 16 runs on 28 hits, striking out a team-best 47. Kayden Danielson sported the lowest ERA with a 1.31 in 32 innings. He allowed just 11 runs – six earned – on 16 hits, striking out 28. Stewart, TJ Hjelmstad and Gannon Hedberg also saw extended time on the mound. Stewart had a team-best six wins.

The Sentinels won at least one game against every conference foe except for Bismarck High, which represents the No. 3 seed. Minot North swept five conference opponents this year – Bismarck Century, Minot High, Watford City, Bismarck St. Mary’s and Jamestown. The Sentinels finished one game back of conference champion and No. 1 seed Bismarck Legacy, who they split with on April 21, winning the opener 1-0 and dropping the nightcap 14-7.

“There are so many teams that are so close to each other,” Krahler said. “One game here or there changes the standings. We won a lot of close games and that’s a good thing to learn how to play in those.”

The Sentinels played in six one-run games, winning five.

The Sentinels enter the postseason winners of eight of their last nine, including eight straight against WDA opponents.

Magicians No. 6 seed, battle Demons in quarterfinal

Last year, Minot High came within a run of winning the program’s second state title. This year, the Magicians head into the postseason in an underdog role as the No. 6 seed in the WDA Tournament. They match up with No. 3 seed Bismarck High in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, May 21, at 6:45 p.m.

The Magicians (13-10 overall, 11-9 WDA) swept a road doubleheader from the Demons on April 21, winning the opener 15-13 and the nightcap 5-2. The 15 runs scored in Game 1 was Minot High’s second-highest offensive output of the season and the most Bismarck High has allowed in a game. The Demons (18-8, 13-7) committed 10 errors in the doubleheader. Minot High was one of just two teams to secure a series sweep against the Demons this season, joining Bismarck Legacy.

Minot High enters the postseason having won five of its last seven games, while Bismarck has lost four of six.

Oliver Deschamp led the Magicians with a .453 batting average in 18 games played, putting up a team-best 18 RBIs and five doubles. Minot High batted .312 as a team, with seven other batters hitting above the .300 threshold.

Remington Anderson and Tegan Schindler played in all 23 games. Anderson finished with a .388 average, leading the team with 26 total hits. He drove in 11 runs and scored a team-high 25 runs. Schindler recorded the team’s lone home run of the season, batting .343 with four triples, two doubles, 13 RBIs and 20 runs scored. The Magicians had 188 total hits during the regular season – 148 going for singles.

Minot High tallied 160 runs, averaging just under seven runs per contest. They scored 10-plus runs in six games this season, including twice in the final three.

Three Magicians logged more than 20 innings on the mound during the regular season. Peyton House tossed a team-high 28 innings, winning three of his four starts and appearing in relief twice. House sported a 3.50 ERA, allowing 17 runs on 29 hits, striking out 29. He was the winning pitcher in the finale against Bismarck High, allowing two runs in six innings, striking out 10.

Gavin King and Drew Jordan both started six games. King threw 27 innings and registered a 3.11 ERA. Jordan had a 4.44 ERA with 26 strikeouts. Both recorded three wins on the mound. Brody Johnson, Carter Bush and Cole Deaver have been used primarily as relief pitchers, appearing in 18 combined games with just three starts among them. Johnson had a team-best 2.44 ERA. He recorded 26 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings. Minot High’s pitching staff had a 4.87 ERA.

Bismarck Legacy won its first WDA regular season title and will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Sabers play No. 8 seed Mandan, which won a play-in game over No. 9 Jamestown, 2-0. The Braves are the defending WDA Tournament champions. Legacy surrendered a WDA-low 58 runs in 20 conference games this season, holding opponents to one or fewer runs in 10 games.

The other matchup pits No. 4 Dickinson against No. 5 Bismarck Century. The Mavericks finished with the second-best offense during conference play with 148 runs scored. Only Bismarck High (150) plated more.

Minot High, Mandan, Legacy and Jamestown represented the West Region at the state tournament last year.