Prep baseball: Red River, North split

Grand Forks Red River coach Mark Varriano said his Roughriders are still searching for consistency.

They didn't find it during Thursday night's East Region doubleheader against Fargo North. But the Roughriders did find a standout pitching performance from junior left-hander Ryne Anderson.

Anderson threw a one-hit shutout in Red River's 8-0 win in the opener at Kraft Field. North, however, dominated the second game, winning 10-0 in five innings. The Spartans' Ryan Messerschmidt also tossed a one-hitter.

"We haven't been consistent this year and we need to be," Varriano said.

That's because the East Region, said Varriano, is as balanced as it's been in his 10-year involvement with Red River baseball.

"Any team can win it this year," Varriano said. "It should be an exciting East Region."

The split left Red River 5-6 in the East Region and 8-7 overall. North is 8-5 and 9-10.

Fargo South and Fargo Shanley both came into Thursday's play at 10-2 in the league. But no more than two games separate the next five teams in the loss column, which likely means the fight for one of the region's four state-tournament berths should be interesting.

In the opener, Anderson was in control throughout -- a sharp contrast from his last outing, Varriano said.

"It was a night and day difference from his last game against Shanley," Varriano said. "He controlled the strike zone. He had a nice changeup and he mixed in his curve.

"And we made the plays behind him."

Red River, led by Jake LaDouceur's three hits, scored two in the first inning and six more in the fourth.

"They had a couple of errors in the sixth and we took advantage," Varriano said.

North's only hit off Anderson was a single by Aaron Anderson.

But North turned the tables in the second game, scoring five runs in the first and five in the second.

Red River, however, was almost off the hook in the first inning. The Spartans scored all five of their runs with two outs.

Kirk Schroeder's bases-loaded triple was the big hit.

Messerschmidt, a hard-throwing right-hander, cruised through the first four innings. In the fifth, Red River loaded the bases but couldn't score.

Red River's only hit came from Justin Hill.

The Roughriders return to East Region play with a doubleheader tonight against West Fargo.