(Editor's note: Miles Community College media releases)
MILES CITY -- With three victories at Lake Region State College over the weekend coupled with a Dawson CC loss to North Dakota State College of Science, the Miles Community College baseball team has clinched the MonDak Conference regular-season baseball championship.
The 14th-ranked Pioneers are 19-2 in MonDak play and 37-11 overall. They have only two conference games remaining at Dawson on Wednesday, and Dawson is currently 12-5 in league play and 21-16 overall.
This is the 16th consecutive MonDak Conference championship for the Pioneers since starting baseball in 2001. They have been the league champions every year they have been in the MonDak Conference. The Pioneers did move out of the MonDak Conference and in to Region IX for a four-year time span from 2015-18.
Game 1 (Saturday): Miles 8, Lake Region 6
Game 1 in Devils Lake, N.D., was looking bleak as the Lake Region State Royals stormed out to a 4-0 lead after three innings before the Pioneers registered six runs in the fourth, including a Cade Stuff grand slam, as the Pioneers sneaked out a 8-6 win in Game 1. Earlier in the fourth inning Lewis Johnson got the Pioneers on the board with a solo home run to trigger the big inning. The Pioneers mustered only six hits in the game and Dawson Parry was the only Pioneer with two hits, going 2-for-4, including a double.
Keith Manby got the start on the mound but had a rough day. He pitched only three innings and walked six Royals, giving up four hits and four runs and striking out three. Cameron Murphy entered in the fourth inning to finish off the final four innings and struck out three Royals. He gave up four hits and two runs to pick up the win.
Game 2 (Saturday): Miles 16, Lake Region 0 (6 innings)
Game 2 was never in doubt as the Pioneers plated four runs in the first inning and starting pitcher Chase Linn threw a gem in a 16-0 win over Lake Region State in five innings. Linn pitched flawlessly as he allowed only two hits over five innings and struck out five. He didn't walk a batter during his time on the mound. Jay Neugebauer came in to clean things up in the sixth and struck out two while walking the only Royal of the game.
Offensively, Cade Stuff stayed hot, cracking two more home runs. He had three RBI and also scored three runs in the game. Six different Pioneers had multiple hits in the game. Brayden Howard was 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Dawson Parry was 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Tim Holyk was 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Jake Lacey was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Ian Krump hit a three-run home run in the big eight-run sixth inning to put the game out of reach and also scored twice in the game.
Game 3 (Sunday): Miles 8, Lake Region 5
The MCC Pioneers rallied from a three-run deficit by scoring five runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth after the Lake Region State College Royals had tied the game 5-5, and the 14th-ranked Pioneers escaped with a 8-5 win.
The Pioneers managed only six hits in the contest compared to 12 for LRSC but collected five walks and scored on some timely hits. The Pioneers scored their first run of the game as Jake Lacey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Tim Holyk then scored on a wild pitch and Clay Prell came up big with a two-RBI single. Brayden Howard then singled in Ian Krump to give the Pioneers a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Cade Stuff singled in Krump, and Dawson Parry followed that up with another RBI single scoring Howard, and Stuff scored on a wild pitch to close out the scoring for MCC. Parry was the only Pioneer with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 including a double. Krump reached base three times via walk.
Grayson Skinner got the start on the mound, going three innings and giving up six hits and two runs. He walked two Royals and struck out four. Dylan Rydalch came in to go 3 1/3 innings and gave up five hits and three runs while striking out five. Anthony Bleggi finished out the last 2/3 inning by striking out two and allowing a hit.
