AREA NOTEBOOK: Two of the four area regions still haven’t determined the No. 1 seed in prep baseball

Logjams at the top have been the rule, not the exception, heading into the final week of North Dakota’s Class B baseball regular season.

Two of the four area regions still haven’t determined the No. 1 seed with games scheduled to conclude Friday. The remaining two regions had top seeds determined this week.

“What makes it unusual is how many games there are left to play in the final week,’’ Region 4 chairman Mike Hanson said. “A lot of teams had games to get in because of the weather. We wouldn’t be in this situation if there hadn’t been so many postponements.’’

Here is how the bids for the No. 1 seed in area regions have taken shape.

•   Region 2: Thompson controls its own destiny. The Tommies are 7-1 and clinch the top seed if they win one of their final two games, against Finley-Sharon/Hope-Page today and Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg on Friday.

Larimore is 8-2 after beating Hatton-Northwood on Wednesday and eliminating the Thunder bid for the top seed. Larimore gets the No. 1 seed if Thompson drops its final two games. Thompson gets the top seed if it ties with the Polar Bears. The tournament begins Monday with two games at each of the top two seeds.
“Usually, you see two teams batting it out for the top,’’ region chairman Nathan Walsh said. “You don’t often see it like this, with three teams with a shot in the final week.’’

•   Region 3: Midkota is unbeaten (9-0) in region play and clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s regional at Carrington when it swept Medina-Cleveland 15-0, 12-2 on Tuesday. New Rockford-Sheyenne also was in the running for the top spot entering the week.

The regional begins Monday in Carrington.

•   Region 4: Grafton and Park River/Fordville-Lankin both are undefeated in region play, the Spoilers with three games remaining and the Aggies with four.

The key matchup is today, when the two teams meet in a doubleheader at Grafton.
The regional begins Monday with two play-in games. A four-team, double-elimination tournament begins Tuesday, with the top seed hosting it.

•   Region 5: Harvey-Wells County locked up the No. 1 seed when it swept Rolette-Rolla on Monday.

The tournament starts with play-in games today. Harvey hosts the final-four double elimination tournament, which starts Monday.
Big 4 spark Roseau

Roseau had three of the top eight scores last weekend in winning the Fargo North Invitational. The Rams had rounds of 302 and 297.

The 16-team field included most of the North Dakota Class A East Region schools as well as several Minnesota schools.

“We’ve gone to that tournament for a number of years and we’ve never been close to winning it before,’’ Rams coach Mike Lundbohm said. “It’s a good, strong field.

“But I’m not really surprised. We have four really good players. If they’re all on, we can put together a good score. To get all four giving you a good score (on the same day), that’s tough.’’

Joe Vatnsdal tied for medalist honors with a 143 in the two-day tournament. Will Czeh (151) was seventh and Ethan Johnson (152) tied for eighth. Rounding out the Rams’ top four is Ryan Anderson.

All four have played varsity golf for three or more seasons. All four have sub-80 averages.

While Roseau lacks the depth it has had on some of its past teams, “I wouldn’t trade this team with some of the best we’ve had,’’ Lundbohm said. “When our four guys are on, it is the best team we’ve had. The last few years, we had six guys who were capable of sub-80 scores. But to have four guys doing it consistently, that’s pretty special.’’

Symington steps down

Cooter Symington, the only coach the current North Border boys basketball alignment has had, is stepping down.

Symington recently resigned after 18 seasons as head coach. The current alignment that includes Walhalla, Pembina and Neche started in the 2000-01 season. North Border won the state Class B title that season, and also finished third in the 2007 state tournament.

That first year “really went smoothly,’’ Symington said. “It worked out that we had two kids from Pembina, two from Walhalla and two from Neche who all played a lot. The kids got along great.

“I was a referee for 15 years and now I’ve coached for 18. It’s time to step down. I have three grandsons who I want to spend more time with. My wife and I spent some time in Arizona the last two winters and enjoyed that. I want to have some more time to go to Arizona in the winter and play some golf.’’

Symington said he isn’t ruling out the possibility of coaching again in the future.

Briefly

Red Lake Falls senior fastpitch player Brooke Schmitz registered her 100th career hit last week. Schmitz, a .364 career hitter, is closing in on the school record of 110 hits held by Britta Glass. . . . Thief River Falls’ Meleah Biermaier was a triple winner Tuesday at the Heart O’Lakes track meet. The sophomore won the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and triple jump. The Prowlers also had a double winner in the boys division in junior Stephen Holecek (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles).