Veterans Win Big in Conference Games

The U13 and U14 Veterans claim conference wins before state tournament

The Mandan Veterans U13 team played one of their last conference games against Dickinson at the Mandan Youth Baseball Complex on July 22. The team played a double-header match against Dickinson, where they claimed the win after a close-scoring first game. Meanwhile, the Mandan Veterans U14 team played the Dickinson Pony Express U14 team that same day, earning a decisive victory with a score of 7-1.

The Veterans U13 team played a close-scoring game against Dickinson. Both teams played a strong defensive game and kept the score low. After each team earned three runs throughout the first four innings, the game was tied at the top of the 5th. Neither team made scoring advancements in the next two innings, resulting in the team entering an 8th inning to decide a victor. Dickinson failed to earn any runs at the top of the 8th, which allowed the Veterans to bat next. Here is where the Veterans’ skill shone through. Veterans’ batters #2 and #7 both walked on four balls, landing two runners on first and second. The next batter for the Veterans, #12, shook up the game with a deep hit to left field to earn an RBI as Veterans’ #2 hit home plate. The Veterans prevailed in the last inning with a score of 4-3.

Mandan Veterans U13 Coach Garrett Froelich has been coaching for four years. His love of baseball and Mandan has brought him to coach the team. He expressed his pride in this team’s playing and shared how the season has been for his team.

“It's been good. We've had our struggles, but we've really grown as a team. I’ve seen a lot of growth, as a team and individually from the guys. [U13] is always tough going into the bigger field, but they've made the adjustment well.”

He also shared the biggest challenges that the team has faced this season.

“I think the biggest adjustment is fixing mechanical and mental things. Not so much the baseball stuff,” Froelich said. “Everybody needs to learn the game more at this age, but also mechanically, with their swings, their pitching, their throwing motions, everything. All that stuff is where the biggest challenge lies when kids are so young.”

Froelich stated that the biggest highlight for the team this year was the game against Dickinson. It showed the teams’ growth and improvements.

“I would say when we win, we win big, and those [games] are not too challenging for us. This was the first time we won a difficult game. It was low scoring, where we had to make the plays and had to be perfect throughout.”

The Veterans U13 team will play in their state tournament in Fargo from July 30 to August 4. The Veterans U14 team will play in their state tournament that same weekend in Grand Forks. After two strong wins, both teams may be looking forward to the state tournament with determination and drive.