The Valley City Royals scored four runs in the last two innings to pull out an 10-6 win over Bismarck in game two of their West Region doubleheader to earn the sweep. Valley City won game one 1-0 with a two-out run in the top of the seventh inning.

Game 1: Valley City 1, Bismarck 0

The opener was a classic pitchers duel between Valley City’s Bryson Heck and Bismarck’s Ethan Urlacher.

Valley City did not get more than one runner on base in any inning until the top of the seventh. Prior to that inning they left four runners on base  with three in scoring position. But that changed in the seventh.

Valley City had a scoring chance right away in the top of the first inning. Corbyn Powell led off with a single, then stole second. With a runner on first and no one out, but a ground out and two strikeouts stranded him there.

Bismarck had their first scoring chance in the bottom of the first. A walk and a hit batter put runners at first and second with none out. A sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third. But Bryson Heck struck out Ian Schweigert and got Jordan Merkel to ground out to end the inning. 

Heck would retire the next eight batters in a row and ten of eleven. The Reps starter, Ethan Urlacher, was matching Heck pitch for pitch. After Powell’s double in the first, Urlacher retired the next eleven batters in a row and 13 of 14. The lone base runner in that stretch was Parker Roelfsema who doubled with two out in the fourth. He went to third on a wild pitch, but that is where he stayed.

Valley City finally broke through in the top of the eighth inning. James Schwehr led off the inning with a single to right field. Andrew Sykora and Will Schwehr flied out to right field. Leighton Hendrickson singled, moving Schwehr to third. Heck then helped himself by singling to center field to drive in Schwehr for the 1-0 lead. 

Heck then retired the Reps without incident in the bottom of the seventh. 

Corbyn Powell, Parker Roelfsema, James Schwehr, Leighton Hendrickson and Bryson Heck were all 1 for 3.

Heck yielded three hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out six.

Game 2: Valley City 10, Bismarck 6

The first three innings looked like it was going to be a high scoring game. Valley City scored one in the first and five in the second. Bismarck scored one in the second and five in the third. But in the end, the Royals would score four runs in the last two innings to pick up the win.

In the first for Valley City, Corbyn Powell singled, was bunted over to second by Trevor Fetsch then scored on Parker Roelfsema’s single. 

In the second inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Jack Samuelson hit a high chopper over the mound, Reps shortstop Ayden Rykowsky misplayed the ball and two runs scored on the error. A single by Roelfsema brought another run in. On the play, the throw to try and get Samuelson got away and he scored on that error to make it 5-0 Royals. Roelfsema, who took second on that error, stole third. When the throw went into left field, Roelfsema scored to make it 6-0.

Bismarck got a run back in the bottom of the second on a wild pitch. 

In the third, the Reps scored five runs to tie the game. The big hit in the inning was a two run double by Brycen Kalfell. The tying run scored on an error to make the score 6-6 after three innings. 

The Royals took the lead back for good with a run in the sixth. Powell led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Fetsch. Samuelson was intentionally walked. Roelfsema singled to right. Samuelson took a big turn around second, when the Reps catcher Cooper Johnson threw to second, the ball bounded off the chest of the shortstop which allowed Powell to come in and score the tie-breaking run. 

Valley got some insurance runs in the top of the seventh. A double by Powell scored Adam Shanenko who opened the inning with a single, then was bunted to second by Heck. With the bases loaded, Roelfsema hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Powell to make it 9-6. Fetsch came in on an error to make it 10-6.

In the bottom of the seventh, Powell came on in relief and retired Bismarck in order to end the game. 

The Royals had 13 hits in the game, led by Corbyn Powell who was 3 for 4 with four runs scored and an RBI, and Parker Roelfsema who was 3 for 5 with a run scored and four RBI. Adam Shanenko was 2 for 2 with a run scored. Trevor Fetsch was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Leighton Hendrickson was 1 for 2 with a run scored. Jack Samuelson and Bryson Heck were both 1 for 3. Samuelson scored once and drove in two.

James Schwehr got the win in relief. He allowed six hits, two runs, one earned, in 3 1/3 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out one.

The win was the eleventh in a row for the Royals who head into next week’s West Region tournament as the top seed with an 18-3 overall record and they finished 13-1 in the region. They will play the 7:30 p.m. game against the eighth seed, Williston Oilers, on Thursday July 24th at Municipal Park in Bismarck.