Sox cap season at Region tourney

Nathan Price | May 29, 2023

Lora Wobbema count

After their 8-7 victory over the South Border Mustangs on Thursday, May 18, the SNR Black Sox were found grinning ear to ear. With this victory, they advanced to play the No. 1 seed, LaMoure/LM.

Nathan Price count

Lucas Yri soars through the air in an attempt to score at home plate during the Region III Tournament game against LaMoure-Litchville/Marion on Monday, May 22. The umpire deemed Yri out.

Jenna Weisenburger count

All-Region 3 Team, (l to r) – back row: Berkley Frantz (SB), Marshall Lindgren (SB), Jacob Nitschke (LLM), Anthony Hanson (LLM), Hudson Schmitz (C), Jack Erickson (C), Jase Larson (KC), Brody Weisenburger (SNR); front row: Connor Kosiak (SB), Tate Mart (LLM), Connor Johnson (LLM), Grady Shipman (C), Kael Kovar (C), Collin Zimmerman (KC), Isaiah Oster (KC), Simon Hager (KC) and Connor Knatterud (SNR).

After finishing their regular season with a 3-10 overall record, the SNR Black Sox were hoping to play upset at the Region III Tournament – and at first, that's exactly what happened.

Round 1 of the tournament saw the South Border Mustangs play host to the Black Sox in Ashley, N.D. on Thursday, May 18.

Earlier in the season, SNR had lost to South Border on two separate occasions. Once was a narrow 1-point loss, but the other was a complete shutout.

Come playoff time, however, the Black Sox flipped the script.

In the top of the first inning, Brody Weisenburger capitalized on a Mustang error by sending home Connor Knatterud with a line drive RBI single to left field, and a fielder's choice later in the inning brought home Keaton Cudworth.

The 2-0 lead didn't last long though, as a 3-run home run by Rykan Salwei in the bottom of the inning swiftly gave the Mustangs a 3-2 advantage – and that wouldn't be the last time the long ball would swing the lead around.

In the top of the third inning, Alex Weisenburger took the lead right back on a line drive over the left-field fence, bringing home both himself and Brody Weisenburger.

The Mustangs and Sox each tacked on another run in the fourth inning, but in the bottom of the fifth South Border enjoyed a productive 3-run inning, retaking the lead at 7-5.

A scoreless sixth inning meant the Sox had just one last chance to get their first postseason win. Thankfully for them, the Weisenburger's were on deck.

Brody Weisenburger began the inning with a line drive single to center field, and Alex Weisenburger capitalized by launching his second home run of the day over the left-field fence.

The two-run blast tied the game at 7-7. The very next batter, Luke Yri, knocked a double into right field and later scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Easton Simon.

With an 8-7 lead, Keaton Cudworth stepped on the mound for the bottom frame, and ended the game with a pair of strikeouts.

It was an impressive comeback, and it kept the Black Sox in the winning bracket of the region tournament, which, beginning on Monday, May 22, would be hosted at the Jim Johnson Memorial Field in New Rockford.

However, home-field advantage didn't appear to do the Sox much good.

Waiting for them in the upper bracket were the Loboes of LaMoure/Litchville-Marion (L/L-M), the tournament's No. 1 seed.

Still, even the Loboes must have been concerned when Cudworth stepped onto the mound to start the game.

In his recent outings Cudworth had been essentially lights out, and that was again the case against L/L-M.

Cudworth managed to keep the Loboes hitless for the first three innings, and the Sox had a 1-run lead entering the bottom of the fourth.

But that's when the SNR defense collapsed, as an error allowed one unearned run to cross home plate in that frame, which was followed by a rash of defensive errors and more Loboes' runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

What was shaping up to be a nailbiter swiftly transformed into a blowout, and the game was over in the sixth inning once the 10-run mercy rule was triggered at 11-1.

Now in the lower bracket, the Black Sox had to go up against the No. 3 seed Kidder County, who had suffered an upset of their own in Round 1.

Like the previous game, SNR was looking competitive early. After 2.5 innings the Sox had a 3-1 lead.

However, also like the previous game, the SNR defense struggled to record outs as the game dragged on.

Errors from the Black Sox and good hitting by Kidder County propelled the Wolves to a big lead, and despite a few more Black Sox runs in the sixth inning, it wasn't enough to stop Kidder County from moving on with an 11-6 win.

It marked the end of a tough season for SNR, but also a season with plenty of great moments and good memories.

Though they couldn't advance as far as they would have liked, the only two losses SNR suffered happened to come from the tournament's two finalsts.

After defeating the Sox on Monday, Kidder County went on to defeat South Border and Carrington on Tuesday, before taking on the Loboes in the tournament championship.

Lamoure/Litchville-Marion took down Kidder County 4-2, securing their second region championship and state tournament appearance in a row.

The Black Sox will hope to build on the improvements they made throughout the spring season when summer ball kicks off in the first week of June.

The New Rockford Post 30 Black Sox will kick off their season in Cando on Tuesday, June 6 at 5 p.m. They will then host Carrington on Thursday, June 8 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Stats from the tournament in New Rockford are posted online.

Region 3 Baseball

Mustangs 7, Black Sox 8

Thursday, May 18

in Ashley

BLCK 2 0 2 1 0 0 3 - 8 5 2

MUST 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 - 7 9 3

SNR Individual Stats

Hitting: AB R H BI

Knatterud 1 1 0 0

Cudworth 2 1 0 1

B Weisenburger 3 1 2 1