LAMOURE, N.D. -- As Jayden Grover rounded third base and trotted home, there was a slight smile on his face. On the pitching mound, on the other hand, Grove was all business.
“It felt good, getting solid contact,’’ Grover said of his 2-run home run. “I’m more focusing in on the (catcher’s) glove when I’m pitching. You have to throw strikes.’’
The right-hander was a two-way force here Wednesday. In addition to the home run, he pitched a 2-hit shutout, striking out 12, as Nelson County beat Kidder County 9-0 in the first round of the North Dakota Class B American Legion baseball tournament.
Grover doubled his home run total for the season, entering the tournament with one. And he dropped his 1.00 earned run average.
“He’s been lights out on the mound for us all year,’’ Owls coach Brent Luehring said. “But this was the best he’s spotted his offspeed stuff. He kept the ball low and threw strikes..’’
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That’s no easy task considering that 28-8 Kidder County entered the game with a .298 team batting average and an average of 6.7 runs per game. But it was the second complete-game shutout Grover has thrown against KC this season, allowing 5 hits in 14 innings.
“He’s probably the best pitcher we’ve seen all year -- twice,’’ Kidder County coach Ken Miller said. “The ball just fires off his hand. And he changes speeds and kept us off balance.
“We’ve hit the ball and scored a lot of runs all year. He did a heckuva job.’’
Kidder County’s best threat was in the second when Dalton Jangula doubled and advanced to third with nobody out on a wild pitch. Grover got out of the jam with three consecutive strikeouts.
Grover’s 12 strikeouts included at least one against every hitter in the KC order except Jangula. With a single and a double, Jangula was the lone Kidder County player with a hit.
On the flip side, the 38-7 Owls received offense from up and down their lineup. Hunter Engel had two doubles, Tyler Gravseth a single and a double and Jonathan Lund two singles to lead a 12-hit offense that had every player get at least one hit and eight of the nine score at least one run.
“That’s how it’s been for us all year,’’ Luehring said. “Our No. 9 hitter (Ben Halvorson) is third on the team in runs. Everybody contributes.’’
Nelson County scored once in the first and twice in the second, then broke the game open with a 4-run fourth. Engel doubled in two runs and Grover followed with his 2-run home run to left field.
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“We were putting the bat on the ball,’’ Luehring said. “We got the early runs and you could just see Jayden take a deep breath and relax a little.’’
