Minot Metros designated hitter Garrett Nikitenko swings at a pitch during the championship game of the Souris River Slugfest against Burlington on Sunday, June 28, at Corbett Field. Mike Kraft/MDN

In the albeit brief history of the Souris River Slugfest, no Minot Legion ballclub had ever won the hometown tournament dating back to its inaugural year in 2023.

Grady Weppler rewrote the history books with one swing, delivering a tiebreaking solo home run to lead off the sixth inning, propelling the Minot Metros to a 3-1 victory over the Burlington Bulldogs in the championship game on Sunday, June 28, at Corbett Field. It was Weppler’s second home run of the season, the first also coming against Burlington earlier in the season.

Weppler came up to bat in a big spot earlier in the game with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning with the Metros leading 1-0 and looking to add to their lead. But Weppler grounded into a fielder’s choice at first, allowing first baseman Collin Abernathy to throw out Ty Iverson at the plate. Minot wouldn’t end up scoring in the inning.

Undeterred, Weppler produced a championship-winning plate appearance in his final at-bat of the tournament. Facing a 2-0 count, Weppler smashed a delivery from Burlington starting pitcher AJ Kilbourn over the fence in right field, putting the Metros in front 2-1.

“Grady has been one of those guys for us this year that has done it all for us,” Metros coach Craig Schmich said. “He’s been really good for us on the mound and he’s been really good at the plate. I told all the boys after the game (On Saturday) that nobody cares what you do in your first couple at-bats; it’s what you do in your last at-bat and Grady listened to that and seized the moment and came up big for us with a homer to lead off the sixth for us and that’s what won us the game.”

Owen Meyer added an insurance run later in the inning with an RBI triple with two outs, scoring Liam Hieb. Both Weppler and Meyer finished with multi-hit performances.

Meeting for the second time in as many days, the Metros (17-5) struck first in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of a costly two-out error. Brody Johnson sent a high pop fly into shallow right that was dropped by the second baseman, allowing Weppler to score the game’s first run.

The Bulldogs (12-4) tied the game in the fifth, getting an RBI double from Drew Roedocker to right that brought in Brady Bachmeier.

Both teams finished with five hits.

With a full slate of conference games upcoming, Schmich said he wanted to have a full arsenal of arms at the ready, meaning that his pitchers on Sunday were operating on a pitch count. Meyer got the starting nod and pitched the first 2 2/3 innings, allowing one hit while striking out five and walking four. He worked himself out of a bases-loaded jam, striking out Mason Rist to end the threat.

Meyer threw 57 pitches before being replaced by Cole Deaver, who also finished with 57 pitches. He went four innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out three. Brady Vigested came on to record the final out in the seventh. Johnson helped out his pitcher in left field, making an over-the-shoulder diving catch to end the game and give the Metros their first Souris River Slugfest title in their first championship game appearance.

“It’d be lying if I didn’t say there was a little bit of pressure,” Schmich said. “Hosting a tournament, you want to at least be in that championship game. I told the boys that right now we’re playing for the hometown. People are out here, they’re enjoying it. You get to play at Corbett. Let’s just find a way to get to that championship game and once we get there, we’ll find a way to win it. The boys played really well this weekend, winning games in different ways. It was fun to watch them. I love playing tournaments. I think it’s the best thing for these boys. They understand what a tournament layout is going to look like, especially when we get into regionals.”

The Metros finished a perfect 4-0 at the tournament. They played their way into the title game by knocking off Burlington and Cando on Saturday to be the only team to finish undefeated in the round-robin portion of the tournament. Burlington and Velva both finished 2-1, but the Bulldogs earned the spot in the championship game with their 8-6 victory over the 39ers on Saturday. The Minot 26ers and Crosby both finished 1-2, while Cando went 0-3.

Minot defeated Burlington, 12-4, on Saturday behind a six-run third inning. The Metros compiled 15 hits, led by Meyer, who finished 4-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Brady Vigested tripled as part of a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, driving in three runs. Iverson also recorded three hits.

Carter Bush struck out seven over six innings to pick up the win on the mound.

The Metros ended their round-robin finale against Cando in prime position to advance to the championship game win or lose. All they needed to do was lose and surrender less than 14 runs in the process, as the first tiebreaker in the case of a three-way tie is total runs allowed. The Metros gave up eight, but also came away with a 10-8 victory, eliminating the need for the tiebreaker.

It required a late comeback, as the Metros plated eight runs in the fifth after trailing 6-2 entering the bottom half of the inning. The Metros brought 13 batters to the plate in the inning, with five collecting hits and five others drawing walks. Weppler, Johnson and Meyer all delivered run-scoring hits in the frame. Meyer went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored.

“They’re a team that’s going to fight until the very end,” Schmich said. “They’ve proven that time and time again this season where they aren’t a team that’s going to roll over. They will fight. They won’t give up. We have 21 outs in this game and we’re going to fight for those 21 outs and we’re going to do exactly what we need to do to win the game. That’s a testament to this group and that’s a testament to the boys of wanting to work hard and doing what they need to do to win baseball games.”

The Metros have won 10 consecutive games dating back to June 14. They now begin a stretch of three straight conference doubleheaders, beginning on Wednesday, July 1, when they host the Bismarck Senators for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. at Jack Hoeven Park.