FARGO-No. 1 seed Beulah hasn't earned any style points at the North Dakota state Class B baseball tournament, but the Miners will play for a state championship.
Beulah committed eight errors but starting pitcher Alec Battest allowed just two hits and struck out seven as the Miners knocked off Park River/Fordville-Lankin 7-3 on Saturday morning in the state semifinals at Newman Outdoor Field.
The game was played Saturday morning after it was postponed Friday night due to heavy rain expected in the region.
Beulah will play Thompson in the state championship, with the expected start time of approximately 7 p.m.
Park River/Fordville-Lankin will play a five-inning game against Carrington in the third-place game prior to the state championship.
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"Very strange game," PRFL coach Brett Omdahl said. "I think we both looked below average to start the game, making foolish mistakes. We didn't put on good contact and made youthful mistakes."
Beulah, who needed to erase a 7-3 deficit in the state quarterfinals to survive in the first round, overcame its eight errors with 13 hits. Battest and Hayden Norton had three hits, while John Suter and Josh Remmick each added two hits.
"It was very wild from the get-go," Battest said. "It was a rough and muddy field out there. We just had to grind it out."
The Aggies held early leads of 1-0 after one inning and 2-1 in the top of the third, but the Miners pulled away with two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.
PRFL had six errors of their own.
In a game featuring 14 errors, Beulah shortstop Mikey Morris made a standout defensive play to end the game. With two runners on base, Morris made a tough play in the hole between second and third and threw on the run to barely beat PRFL's Jacob Erovick at first base.
The Miners will be searching for their first state title since 2012.
"Some people might think it's tough because you have to play two in a day, but it's the semifinals and state championship," Battest said. "They had to do what they had to do to have the field ready for today, and we'll have no problem getting up for these games."
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BEULAH 7,
PARK RIVER/F-L 3
PRFL 101 001 0 3 2 6
Beulah 011 023 x 7 13 8
WP-Alec Battest; LP-Nate Zavalney
Highlights-PRFL: Daman Flaten 1x2, RBI, Landon Wood 1x3; B: John Suter 2x4, Josh Remmick 2x4, 2B, Alec Battest 3x4, Hayden Norton 3x4
