Minot Metros’ starting pitcher Owen Sundahl delivers to the plate during the second game of a doubleheader against Watford City on Wednesday, July 8, at Jack Hoeven Park. Sundahl earned the win with a complete-game four-hitter. Nathan Beitler/MDN

The Minot Metros were in need of a get-right game after suffering their most lopsided loss of the season a little less than 48 hours leading up to their doubleheader against Watford City on Wednesday, July 8.

To do so, they turned to their good friend that is the fifth inning, a frame that the Metros have dominated all season. And Wednesday’s opener was no different.

The Metros broke open a tie game with a seven-run fifth inning en route to a 9-3 victory over Watford City in Game 1 of the doubleheader at Jack Hoeven Park, stringing together six of their 11 hits in the game and bringing 11 batters to the plate. Minot didn’t need any fifth-inning magic in the finale, ending the doubleheader without the need to bat in its favorite stanza. The Metros scored four runs in each of the first three innings and cruised to a 13-2 victory in five innings to finish off the sweep and maintain their grasp on the No. 2 seed in the West Region.

“Like I said to our assistant coach in the dugout, I guess this is just really who we are,” Metros coach Craig Schmich said of the fifth inning. “It’s something we’ve done all season and at this point it’s just laughable. It’s 2-2 in the fifth and then somehow we put up seven. We had some good at-bats. They made a couple mistakes and we capitalized on them. It’s just one of those things where we have a big fifth inning and we go find another way to win a game today.”

Minot (21-7 overall, 8-2 West Region) was coming off its first conference losses of the season in a sweep at the hands of defending conference champion Valley City on Monday, July 6, in which the Metros saw their 12-game winning streak snapped and found themselves on the wrong side of a 14-run defeat in the nightcap.

“Our goal is to find a way to just win the first one and if we can go get the second one, that’s awesome, but we just need to get that monkey off our backs,” Schmich said. “Having that 4th of July break and then coming back and having a doubleheader sweep and they’re both conference games, that hurts a little bit, but this group has been resilient all year. They’ve found ways to come back and do what they need to do. Really proud of the group and how they showed up today and how they got us those two conference wins.”

Minot and Watford City were locked in a close game heading into the fifth inning. The Metros struck for a pair of runs in the first inning and the Walleye countered with two runs of their own in the third to knot the contest. By the time the fifth inning was over, the Metros had separated themselves from the visitors.

After a strikeout to open the bottom half of the frame, the Metros put their next eight batters on base safely. Garrett Nikitenko, Brody Johnson, Henry Woodbeck, Cole Deaver, Owen Meyer and Owen Sundahl all single, and Grady Weppler and Ty Iverson each drew a walk. Johnson, Woodbeck, Meyer and Sundahl each had an RBI.

The Metros produced three runs in the fifth without having to lift the bat off their shoulder. Johnson scored on a wild pitch. Sundahl was awarded home plate via balk by Watford City pitcher Bradley Clark and Meyer came around to score on a double steal with runners at the corners.

“There’s going to be days where our bats aren’t going and we’re going to have to find different ways to score runs and manufacture them as best we possibly can and play a little West-Coast style baseball,” Schmich said. “We were able to do a couple things on first-and-third plays and get the ball rolling a little bit that way. I wouldn’t say we’re the fastest team in the world, but we are smart baserunners. We know how to get good leads. We know how to get good jumps and we’re finding ways to steal bags that way.”

That was plenty of run support for Meyer to get the win on the mound. Meyer pitched the first six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out eight and walking three.

Schmich said the initial plan was to have Meyer throw 80 pitches before removing him, but his starting pitcher said he wanted to go for 105 pitches and that’s what they went with. Meyer finished with 109 pitches – 67 for strikes.

Johnson led the offense in the opener, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Sundahl and Deaver both had a pair of base hits. Sundahl also drove in a run and scored twice.

Joseph Brothers and Erin Luna each had two hits for the Walleye. Isaiah Leahy doubled, drove in a run and scored.

The Walleye (10-11, 2-7) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2. Carter Branstrom led off the game with a triple to left and came around to score on a wild pitch. Luna added a two-out RBI single later in the inning.

It was all Minot from there, which scored the final 13 runs of the game – 12 across the first three innings – and outhit Watford City, 14-4.

Brady Vigested and Nikitenko did a bulk of Minot’s damage as the No. 3 and No. 4 batters in the lineup, respectively. Vigested finished 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored. Nikitenko was just a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a double, triple, four RBIs and three runs scored.

“For Brady, he’s kind of been the tablesetter for us,” Schmich said. “That’s why he’s hit No. 3 from Day 1 and he will never move from that spot. Owen Sundahl and Owen Meyer, when they’re leading off and then Ty Iverson hitting No. 2, those guys find a way to get on and Brady does a good job of either scoring them or moving them over and once we have them in scoring position, Garrett does a great job of finding a way to score those guys as well. With those two swinging a hot bat, that’s what we need. We’re going to need those guys.”

Meyer had a strong performance on the mound in the opener, and mirrored that at the plate in the finale. Meyer went 3-for-3 with an RBI and four runs scored.

“Owen Meyer is one of the best kids I’ve coached,” Schmich said. “In general, as a person, as a competitor, as somebody that just wants to win, watching him go about his business is awesome. At the beginning of the season, he struggled a bit and I wouldn’t even say struggled, but hit balls hard right at guys. Talking to him throughout the season to stick with it and telling him that these are going to start to fall. Once July comes, I knew he was going to start swinging a hot bat and he’s been doing that for the last five weeks now where he comes up big in the right spots and finds ways to get on and he’s the fastest kid on our team. When he gets on, he can get to third base in two pitches. He’s so smart on the bases and does so much well when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.”

Eight Metros batters logged at least one hit.

Leahy had half of Watford City’s hits – a double in the third and another double in the fifth.

Sundahl went all five innings to pick up the victory on the mound. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out one and needing just 65 pitches to record 15 outs.

The Metros head to West Fargo for the Essentia Health Legion Tournament beginning on Friday, July 10, when they play Wahpeton at noon and Wayzata Post 118 (Minn.) at 2:30 p.m.