No. 4 Century pull off upset over No. 1 Dickinson in WDA semifinals
May 30—MANDAN, N.D. — Last year Dickinson
obliterated Bismarck Century
in the Western Dakota Association tournament semifinals with a 12-1 result, the Patriots took it personally.
Things didn't go as planned for the top seeded Midgets at the WDA semifinals on Friday as No. 4 Century came out swinging and took the lead with a 5-run second inning. They never looked back.
Dickinson had hits, but were stalled, leaving eight runners stranded in the game for a final score of 8-3.
Starting pitcher Jadon Bast ran into trouble at the start of the second inning from a lead-off home run, before a string of walks and errors would see the dependable pitcher relieved early.
"This isn't the first time on this field where I have had a great pitcher that can't get outs," Pete Dobitz, Midgets head coach, said referring to their previous lost state tourney game against West Fargo.
"In their dugout, they could have gone up there with a piano leg and got a base hit. That is confidence... It isn't the first time, won't be the last time I've seen it happen. I just hope that tomorrow it's us swinging the piano leg," he said.
Drew Kovash came in as relief for the struggling Bast, switching out of right field to toe the rubber. Kovash pitched for four and one-third innings, facing 20 batters and striking out five.
"I do think that Drew Kovash coming in there and righting the ship gave us an opportunity in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings," Dobitz said. "Bats just didn't go to work like they should."
Dickinson had a run of luck in the fifth inning as Troy Berg sent a runner home on a hard hit ground ball, bringing the score to 7-2. Before the Midgets could kindle a rally, a double play, where the shortstop took both outs from a line out and a tag out on second, changed the tone.
In the following inning, Dickinson would have loaded bases with no outs — a prime position for a team known for capitalizing.
Century feeling the momentum swing would bring their shortstop to the mound in relief, an effective change resulting in strikes. Kovash would attempt a steal at home, off a wild pitch, but would be tagged by the catcher in the daring effort.
"You see it very seldom where a wild pitch that the catcher is able to grab and make the tag himself so I mean if something is going to go wrong today, that was the epitome of it right there," Dobitz said. "He was doing whatever he could to try and avoid the tag. Drew is a gamer and he feels bad about it, but 99% of the time you are going to get that run."
The final inning, the Midgets mustered one additional run from senior Isaac Daley's ground out, but it would come as a consolation.
Dickinson will compete against No.3 Mandan for a state qualifier on Saturday, with the patriots battling the dark horse of the tournament, the No.6 Minot.
"I said that it is time to check your character as a man," Dobitz said. "'What kind of a team are you? Are you going to be a team that loses and are on the pity pot tomorrow or are you going to come out and have your chin up, your chest out, your shoulders back and go back to work like we've done all year.'"
