Midgets bottle-up Braves for two-game Friday sweep at home
May 11—DICKINSON — The Dickinson High School Midgets took away a sweep over the Mandan Braves on Friday, May 10 on Bravera Field, wadding-up the Mandan Braves with a 21-0, run-rule win in the opener and sending the visitors home after a 12-4 loss in the nightcap, as senior righthander Ava Jahner mowed down 6 in Game 1 and DHS broke loose for 9 fourth-inning runs in the second-half of the twin-bill.
Jahner not-only blanked the visitors from the mound but-also railed Mandan from the batter's-box on a 2-for-3 performance that included a host of other stats: 2 runs, 4 RBI, and a double while basically allowing only two baserunners in her three innings of light-work. Sophomore standout Madison Wegleitner took over on the mound and allowed only 1 hit the rest of the way for a win that helped bring the Midgets to 18-3 on the 2024 season.
After piling up 9 first-inning runs and adding 5 more in the second frame, the Midgets weren't finished as they added 7 more in the third for the shortened, shutout victory. Senior centerfielder Jenna Decker had a stellar night with 3 runs and a pair of RBI on 2-for-3 hitting that included a stolen-base, while sophomore sensation Kyndall Peterson had a homer, 5 RBI, 3 runs and a double to add to her superlatives on a massive 3-for-4 game at the plate. Freshman phenom and second-baseman Madelynn Bren went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI and senior shortstop Braelynn Farnsworth plated 4 runs while scoring twice in a 1-for-2 performance at the dish.
While the nightcap proved to be much closer than the opener, 9 runs in the bottom of the fourth frame removed all doubt, despite DHS falling to a 2-1 disadvantage at the end of the first. The hosts halved the lead in the inning as Decker doubled and advanced to third on the throw, then raced across the plate on an error on the same play.
The Midgets were able to tie the game in the bottom of the third after a leadoff single from Decker that was followed by walks to Jahner and Morgan Koffler that loaded the bases. Mackelynn Medina drove Decker home on a sacrifice fly to knot the game at 2-apiece, then the home-team took the lead at 3-2 after Jahner scored on a passed-ball.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, Decker reached first on an error that scored Farnsworth and Bren came home on an error in quick order to make the score 6-2 as Jahner doubled home Myah Merry — who reached on a bunt-single — and Koffler added to the Braves' misery with a double of her own that plated Decker and Jahner. Medina doubled home Koffler to set the score at 9-2 and Farnsworth ran Medina across the plate with a single to left, then eighth-grade sensation Gabby Sobolik scored on a single from Bren up the middle. Merry capped off the inning with a single to center that brought Farnsworth home and closed-out the inning at 12-2.
Mandan managed 2 runs in the top of the fifth, but it was all-she-wrote as Decker ended up 2-for-4 with a double and 3 runs and Jahner was 2-for-3 with her double, 2 runs and an RBI while playing three different positions — pitcher, first-base and right-field — during the contest. Koffler and Medina duplicated each-other's stats as they went 1-for-3 with a double and a run each with 2 RBI apiece, while Merry wound up with a 2-for-3 performance that featured a run and an RBI.
The staff of Reagan McMahen, Jahner, Peterson and Sobolik combined for 4 Ks while allowing 4 walks and 6 hits with only 2 earned-runs to show for the second-half of the twin-bill.
Next-up for DHS will be a Tuesday, May 14 doubleheader away to rivals Jamestown with games beginning at 3:30 p.m.
For more information about softball in North Dakota, please visit
https://ndhsaanow.com/tournaments/softball
, and to find out about Dickinson High School athletics, just keep reading The Dickinson Press and/or visit their website at
https://www.dickinson.k12.nd.us/schools/dhs/athletics/index
.
