Smittys Split With Salty Post 15 East (SF) Squad

Legion Baseball

Post 15 East (SF) 12

Aberdeen Smittys 8 – LP: Casey Vining 4.1IP. 6H. 8R. 8ER. 3K.

(Game 1)

Post 15 East (SF) 0

Aberdeen Smittys 7 – WP: (CG) Zane Backous 7IP. 2H. 0R. 1K.

(Game 2)

On Wednesday’s edition of “The Sports Hub” on Fox Sports Aberdeen, Smittys manager Brandon Kusler noted that the Post 15 East squad out of Sioux Falls has been on a tear of late. They won the Dakota Classic this last weekend and were in action last night in Brookings. Coach Kusler was encouraged with the split, although he felt one bad inning in the first game cost the Smittys a 2-0 day. They settled for a hump day split, losing game one 12-8 and then earning a shutout, 7-0 win in game two.

In game one, the Smittys and Post 15 East both put up a pair of runs in their respective half of the first inning and Aberdeen would take a 7-2 advantage into the top of the 5^th, but a few errors spelled their doom as Post 15 put up a ‘7-spot’ in the top of the fifth en route to the 12-8 final score. Casey Vining took the loss on the hill going four and a third inning, while surrendering six hits and eight runs. The Aberdeen offense put up 15 hits, but unfortunately left 12 on base in the four run short coming. Zane Backous & Casey Vining each had a pair of RBI for the Smittys in game one.

In game two, it was all about the Smittys pitching. Zane Backous went the complete seven innings and surrendered just two hits in the 7-0 victory for Aberdeen. As Coach Kusler has been saying all year, “I love the way this team responds [to adversity],” and in game two, that same song and dance would hold true. Post 15 would only have four base runners all game. Phillip Zens was 2-4 with a pair of runs scored & 2RBI. Jaden Smith would go 1-3 with a pair of runs knocked in, too. Backous threw 75 pitches, 45 of them for strikes and he let his defense behind him do the rest of the work. The Smittys defense posted zero errors in the [touchdown] victory. Aberdeen will enjoy some time off until Monday when they take on the Post 320 Stars in Rapid City.