The Park Rapids American Legion baseball team relied on extra-base hits to open the season with a doubleheader sweep over Fargo Monday at the Area High School diamond.
Post 212 used four extra-base hits, including a home run by Chris Bruhn, and Brandon May's 13-strikeout performance to defeat Fargo 7-5 in the first game.
In the second game, Darren Bundy's two-run double capped off a five-run second inning as Park Rapids completed the sweep with a 6-5 win.
May gave up four hits, including a three-run home run, in the first inning as Fargo jumped out to a 3-0 lead. May issued only four more hits the rest of the game as Fargo managed only single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
May aided his cause in the second inning with an RBI double. Bruhn singled and Kyle Blanchard walked to set up May's double as Park Rapids closed the deficit to 3-1.
ADVERTISEMENT
Post 212 tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth as a walk to Jed Ryan, a double by Bruhn and a walk to Blanchard loaded the bases. May's grounder scored Ryan and a throwing error plated Bruhn with the tying run.
After Fargo took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, a four-run outburst in the bottom of the inning put Park Rapids in the lead for good. Doug Haas reached on an error before a two-out double by Tom Juberian, a single by Ryan and Bruhn's two-run homer gave Park Rapids a 7-4 lead.
May went the distance, allowing five runs on eight hits. Zach Lehrke went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and Bruhn went 3 for 3 and scored three times to lead the offense.
In the second game, Fargo held a 5-1 lead before a five-run second inning lifted Park Rapids to the win.
Fargo scored three times in the first before a triple by Haas and an RBI single by Lehrke made it 3-1.
After Fargo took a 5-1 lead in the second, Park Rapids scored five times in the bottom of that inning to take a 6-5 lead. Ryan reached on an error, Brandon Gartner singled, Haas had an RBI single, Lehrke scored a run on a grounder, Juberian and Bruhn walked, and Bundy lined a two-run double for the game-winning runs.
Haas went 2 for 3 to pace Park Rapids' eight-hit attack.
Legion swept at Little Falls
ADVERTISEMENT
Park Rapids couldn't produce the clutch hits Tuesday at Little Falls as the home team swept a doubleheader.
Little Falls won the opener 8-2 and completed the sweep with a 7-6 win in the second game.
Park Rapids had nine hits in the first game but managed to score only two runs in the sixth inning. Singles by Lehrke, Ryan and Curtis Tolle produced the only runs. Ryan led the offense by going 2 for 3.
In the second game, Park Rapids was held to only four hits. Post 212 relied on errors to score three times in the second and three times in the third. Tolle and Gartner had singles in the second inning while Blanchard had a double in the third inning to account for the only hits in those two innings.
Park Rapids had Thursday night's doubleheader with Moorhead canceled. Post 212 hits the road next week with a doubleheader at Bemidji Tuesday and a doubleheader at Nisswa Wednesday. Park Rapids enters a tournament at Perham Saturday and Sunday.
