Baumgartner beats Post 22 to end Firecracker tournament skid
After opening the Rapid City six-day Firecracker tournament with two straight wins, the four straight losses — to Las Vegas Durango, Spokane, the Rocky Mountain Lobos out of Fort Collins, Colorado and Missoula, Montana — Post 334 behind lefty Brandon Baumgartner provided an exclamation mark Saturday night, July 5:
A 4-2 win over the host Post 22 team of Rapid City.
Baumgartner was tapped for two runs on two hits and two walks in the first inning, then set down the last 19 consecutive batters. A pitcher for the University of North Dakota this spring, Baumgartner struck out eight. He also had opened the tournament with a shutout win over West Warwick, Rhode Island.
Post 334, meantime, had scored two in the top of the first and added single runs in the second and fourth innings. C0rey Johnson singled home two runs and Devin Croal and Zac Sather singled home the other runs. In all, Post 334 had a tournament high 13 hits, which was a remarkable turnarund from the dearth of hits and runs it had experienced over the four-game tournament losing string from Wednesday through Saturday afternoon.
Post 334 lost the 1-0 game to Durango, the 3-1 game to Spokane, then blow-out games to the tournament favorite Rocky Mountain Lobos (16-0) and to Missoula (14-0).
The team now faces Las Vegas Durango in a Sunday afternoon rematch for fifth place….
Posted: July 5th, 2008