Blue Jays part ways with Magicians, No. 6 seed heads to WDAs – Jamestown Sun

Jackson Walters spent three hours of his Friday night at Jack Brown Stadium, battling rain and 40-degree temperatures.

Some 10 innings later, Walters and the Jamestown High School baseball team left the field victorious.

“It was a first and I really don’t want to do it again,” Walters said of a 10-inning game. “Our goal as a team was just to come in and get the win and we were blessed to come out with a win.”

The Blue Jays ended up parting ways, with Minot defeating the Magicians 6-5 and losing 6-4 in the team’s final conference game of the regular season. Jamestown will officially conclude its regular season schedule with a non-conference player against Fargo Davies on Saturday. The first pitch is expected to be delivered at 1 p.m. to Jack Brown.

Jamestown had to sweep the doubleheader to secure the No. 4 seed heading into the WDA tournament next weekend. With the split, the Jays are now the sixth seeded team heading into the regional tournament. Jamestown is set to face third-seeded Mandan in the first round of the tournament on Thursday.

The No. 4, 5 and 6 seeds were all up for grabs on Friday afternoon.

While the Jays finished Game No. 1 in the lead, it was the Magicians who put the runs on the board — scoring two right off the top of the first inning — on a pair of Blue Jay defensive errors.

Jamestown regained control in the second.

With runners up first and second, Max Fronk capped the Jays’ nine-man order with a single that landed in right field to send Reagan Sortland through the plate. Connor Hoyt tied things up with a line drive to left field that sent Gage Orr and Ethan Gall — Fronk’s courtesy runner — home.

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Hoyt put on the rockets and sprinted home on some wild Adam Roedocker pitch.

The momentum in the box continued on the infield where 0-1 counted, Tyler Collins snatched one from Payton Hochhalter at shortstop who then turned and converted on the double play .

Strong, stable defense combined with accurate shooting is really what kept the Jays in the game from sixth to 10th frames.

“I loved their resilience,” said head coach Jack Bowman. “I like that they kept fighting and fighting and that’s what we need.

“We’re three guys short, but our shots have been really good. That’s what’s carried us all year and we did pretty well today.”

Walters touched the rubber for the first seven innings, during which he allowed 5 runs on 9 hits. The junior walked 3 and notched 6 Ks. Hoyt took over on the eighth frame. Over the three innings, the senior pitcher struck out four batters. He allowed no hits and walked zero.

“Connor didn’t play (Thursday at West Fargo Sheyenne) because he was injured. He said his elbow didn’t feel good, but today he said he felt good,” he said. Bowman said. “But we weren’t planning on putting him on the mound but he came in and he threw some shots, he had good pace and he kept everyone in it. It was brilliant.”

Hoyt said he put a lot of ice on his arm yesterday and made sure to take care of it on Friday by slowing it down during warm-ups.

While Hoyt was doing his part in the circle, Carson Orr was doing his best in the box.

“Carson Orr played really well at bat today – he had a ton of hits for us and put us all in a good position,” Walters said.

Walters was sitting at second when Orr approached the plate for his sixth go-around with the bat down the 10th. Orr hit a line drive to right center field that sent Walters home.

“Once I saw it and the bat was taken off the ball, I knew I was going to come in,” Walters said. “They weren’t going to stop me – we were trying to win this game and not go 11 innings – we’re trying to get out by midnight.”

Heading into the tournament, Bowman said he felt great and had a wealth of weapons on the mound and a defense that was improving with every game – there’s really no reason why. he – or any other team member – shouldn’t.

“I feel very confident – I think we can go very far in the tournament this year,” Hoyt said.

Jamestown 6, Minot 5

MIN 200 012 000 0— 5 9 2

JHS 040 001 000 1 — 6 10 4

JHS: Jackson Walters, Connor Hoyt (8); MIN: Adam Roedocker, Carson Deaver (6), Morgan Nygaard (7). W-Hoyt; L—Nygaard.

Highlights: JHS — Hoyt (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB) 3-5, 2 RBI, 2B; Jackson Walters (7 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 K, 3 BB); Carson Orr 3-6; Reagan Sortland 1-4, 2B; Gage Orr 1-2, RBI; Max Frunk 1-2, RBI.

MIN-Morgan Nygaard 2-5, 2B; Tyler Buchanan 1-3, 2 RBIs; Tyler Collins 1-5; Kellan Burke 2-5, 2 RBIs, 2B.

Minot 6, Jamestown 4

MIN 200 3010 — 6 9 4

JHS 201 001 0 — 4 8 2

JHS: Thomas Newman; MIN: Tyler Collins, Hunter Horner. W-Collins; L-Newman.

Highlights: JHS—Newman (7 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K); Carson Orr 2-3, RBI; Reagan Sortland 1-3, 2 RBIs.

MIN-Nygaard 3-4; Burke 1-4, RBI; Jonas 1-2, 2 RBIs; Hunter Ruzicka 1-4, 2 RBIs.