Sliding into first place

The Sheyenne-New Rockford Black Sox have taken down another tough opponent as their hot start to the season rolls on.

The LaMoure/Litchville-Marion Loboes have had a firm grip on the region recently, and have represented Region 3 at the state tournament the past three years in a row.

This year, however, several other teams have emerged with a chance to challenge for the region crown, the Black Sox included.

After falling to Carrington in a close loss the week prior, the Sox wanted to prove themselves against another tough opponent, and that's exactly what they got with the Loboes visiting on Tuesday, April 23.

Keaton Cudworth was starting on the mound for SNR, and it became clear early on that this would be another of his great outings.

Through his first four innings he allowed just one hit and kept the Loboes from scoring a single run.

Meanwhile, those same four innings saw SNR build a six-run lead.

In the second inning, it was a series of Loboes' errors, walks and productive outs that netted the Black Sox five runs in the frame.

Alex Weisenburger had the only hit in the inning, with a hard-hit single to right field that scored Brody Weisenburger and Luke Yri, who had reached base on an error and a walk, respectively.

Then, in the next inning, Yri had the best hit of the night by far, launching a line drive into the gap between center and left field. The ball made it all the way to the outfield fence, and Yri turned on the jets and slid into third base for a triple.

Bradyn Collier didn't allow Yri's hard work to go to waste. As the very next batter, he hit a fly ball to center field which was caught for the out, but hit more than well enough to allow Yri to tag up and cross home plate.

Now with a six-run cushion, Cudworth was pitching confidently from the mound. Meanwhile, the defense behind him was also inspiring confidence.

There were no especially flashy defensive plays, but throughout the evening SNR was making routine plays, and weren't giving the Loboes any assistance as they tried to get back in the game.

It wasn't until the sixth inning when the Sox finally made a couple of defensive mistakes, which allowed a single unearned run. But they kept things under control and ultimately closed out an impressive 7-1 victory.

Impressing at the plate were Luke Yri and Alex Weisenburger, who both went 2-for-2 with one walk. Yri crossed home plate three times, while Weisenburger crossed once and earned three RBIs.

The win gives the Black Sox a 5-1 overall record, and a 2-1 record in the region.

Their next game is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30 for another matchup against Carrington.

Region III Baseball

SNR 7, L/L-M 1

Tuesday, April 23

in New Rockford

SNR 0 5 1 0 1 0 X - 7 8 2

LLM 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 5 2

SNR Individual Stats

Hitting: AB R H RBI

Knatterud 4 0 1 0

Allmaras 4 0 0 0

Cudworth 2 0 1 0

B Weisenburger 4 1 1 0

Yri 2 3 2 0

Collier 2 1 1 1

A Weisenburger 2 1 2 3

Kramlich 3 1 0 1

Simon 2 0 0 0

Pitching: IP H ER SO

Cudworth 7.0 5 0 7

L/L-M Individual Stats

Hitting: AB R H RBI

Isaacson 3 1 0 0

Thielges 3 0 2 1

Carlson 3 0 0 0

Musland 3 0 1 0

Warcken 3 0 1 0

Nitschke 3 0 0 0

Hanson 3 0 1 0

Potts 3 0 0 0

Paul 2 0 0 0

Pitching: IP H ER SO

Nitschke 1.2 1 2 1

Thielges 3.1 5 2 0

Carlson 1.0 2 0 0