Minot’s Gannon Hedberg singles during the seventh innings against Mandan in the opening game of the Justin Demary Memorial Tournament on Friday, July 10, at Corbett Field. Mike Kraft/MDN

With just three games counting toward crowning the next Justin Demary Memorial Tournament champion this weekend, no team can win the title in the first game or even on the opening day, but a team can certainly be out of the running or dig themselves into a sizable hole.

The Minot Vistas’ quest for a fourth consecutive title took a hit following their 6-4 loss to Mandan in the tournament opener on Friday, July 10, at Corbett Field. The Vistas had won their last 14 tournament games dating back to 2023.

Minot and Mandan are the only two tournament champions since the tournament was renamed in Justin Demary’s memory in 2022.

“Ultimately, we’re waiting for something else to happen already right after one game,” Vistas coach Pat Arntson said. “With only having the four teams this year, it’s kind of the best format to keep the competitive energy high early. Yeah, it’s Game 1, but if you drop it, it might be over. If Mandan doesn’t lose, it’s over.”

The third inning proved to be the difference maker, as the Chiefs produced four runs in the frame to grab a 5-1 lead. It was the only half-inning in which there was more than a single run scored.

Zach Weiler gave the Chiefs the lead with an RBI single through the left side, allowing Hudsen Sheldon to score from second. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Aiden Bogner plated Miken Brahos before both Kai Villbrandt and Aiden Butman delivered two-out run-scoring hits to center field to stake Mandan out to a 5-1 lead.

“When you play, you want to win,” Mandan coach Jake Kincaid said. “But we played some younger guys to get them a look at the upper level here. They’ve been down with our younger team and I was really happy with how they responded and played well at this level. The last game we played, we lost, so it’s good for us to get back on the other side.”

The Vistas (19-15) chipped away at Mandan’s lead with a run in the bottom half of the inning as well as in the fourth. Peyton House doubled home Mason Stewart in the third and Logan Dixon produced a double of his own that coupled with an error in left allowed Brock Thompson to cross home plate.

But the deficit proved to be too much to overcome, as Mandan added an insurance run in the fifth on an RBI single from Villbrandt. Minot countered with a Remington Anderson RBI single in the sixth, but that was the end of the offensive production from both teams.

“The only thing was they had a big inning and we didn’t,” Arntson said. “We scored in more innings and had the same amount of hits and had guys on. It’s just that one ball landing to give us that crooked number instead of them. I was fairly happy. That was a good baseball game. They just did things a little better than we did.”

Timely defense and a complete game from Mandan pitcher Aaden Pfliger helped the Chiefs win their third consecutive contest against the Vistas this season. When the Vistas threatened to put up a crooked number in the fifth with one out and the bases loaded, Sheldon turned a hard-hit ground ball off the bat of Tegan Schindler into an inning-ending double play to keep Minot off the board in the inning.

“They’re shortstop is tremendous,” Arnston said. “It’s tough to deal with that when you’ve got the bases loaded and a guy hits a ball that typically at this level doesn’t turn into two outs and now we’re back in the dugout having scored zero runs.”

Sheldon made three putouts in the game, including a leaping grab over second base to end the sixth inning.

Pfliger went the distance, throwing a pitch under the century mark to earn the win. He scattered nine hits, while striking out three and walking one.

“We had timely hitting, but defensively, our pitcher Aaden Pfliger threw strikes and then we found a way defensively to keep it to a single run and didn’t give up the crooked number,” Kincaid said. “It’s always a great thing when your starter can find a way to go the whole way. He did a great job of challenging hitters. Even when he was down 3-0 or 3-1, he got back in it and let them hit it.”

House and Dixon each had a pair of hits for the VIstas.

Villbrandt finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Weiler was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for the Chiefs. Fifteen batters contributed to the 19 combined hits between the two teams.

Mandan was right back on the field moments later against East Central (Sask.) and moved to within one victory of claiming the tournament title with a 19-9 win over the Red Sox to finish the day as the lone unbeaten team in the field.

The Chiefs scored six runs in the opening inning and plated 10 of the first 11 runs. They put up seven runs in the sixth inning to punctuate the victory.

Mandan finished with 18 hits.

Sheldon led off the game with a home run over the center-field fence on the first pitch of the game. Sheldon was one of six Chiefs with multiple hits. Troy Gerhardt, Aiden Bogner, Peyton Koppy and Eli Kleinknecht all had three hits. Weiler and Kleinknecht each had three RBIs. Ten Mandan players recorded an RBI.

The Chiefs can win their second tournament title since 2022 with a win against the Manitoba Warriors on Saturday, July 11.

The Vistas bounced back from their loss to Mandan with a 6-0 victory against the Warriors, snapping a season-long three-game losing streak in the process.

Minot scored all off its runs in the fifth inning, recording six of its eight total hits in the frame.

Jayce Price opened the scoring with a two-run home run to left on a 3-1 pitch. House and Brody Mueller had back-to-back RBI singles to give the Vistas a 4-0 lead. House would later score on a sac fly from Drew Jordan. Schindler added Minot’s sixth run with a single up the middle to score pinch-runner Kayden Danielson.

Mueller tossed a complete-game shutout on 73 pitches – 52 for strikes. He scattered four hits, striking out one and walking one.

The Vistas play East Central in their final round-robin counter at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, at Corbett Field. They play a second contest with the Warriors at 6:30, which won’t count toward pool play results.