WILLISTON - Brock Reller stayed as long as he could.
The Grand Forks pitcher was lifted from Wednesday's game against the Bismarck Governors after meeting the 120-pitch limit through 6 1/3 innings, but while he manned the mound he gave the Royals a brilliant start in the opening round of the North Dakota Class AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Ardean Aafedt Stadium.
Reller dueled against Bismarck's Ian McDonald, and the fourth-seeded Royals emerged with a 4-3 victory.
"If we lost we have to come back through the loser's bracket, and you need pitching - you need so much for that," said Reller, who had nine strikeouts against just one walk. "It's great to get the first one out of the way."
Reller also provided the first two runs for the Royals. In the bottom of the first, he reached on an error in the outfield that allowed Ben Carolin to score, and in the fourth he singled to bring home Brenden Bethke.
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The error in the first was the first of five by the Governors in the contest.
"We've been playing really tight defensively, and we just made a few mistakes today. You can't do that in tournament baseball when it's a close game," Bismarck head coach Mike Skytland said.
Bismarck, the No. 5 seed, finally broke through against Reller with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Logan Morse and McDonald led off with consecutive doubles to cut the lead in half, and a bunt single RBI from Ben Weaver tied the game at 2-2.
A pair of infield errors in the bottom of the frame opened the door for the Royals to retake the lead on a Conner Richardson RBI. Another miscue in the seventh inning allowed Carolin to score and make it 4-2.
"They made errors that we just capitalized on, and that's what you have to do," Reller said.
Morse homered with two outs in the top of the ninth, but that's all Bismarck would get.
McDonald had three hits and one RBI to help his own cause. He struck out three batters over his 7 1/3 innings of work.
"They've been going at each other back and forth since they were 12," Royals head coach Nick Chine said of McDonald and Reller. "I expected to see exactly what I saw. Both kids are great competitors. It was going to be a close game, and it was going to come down to who swung the bats better and who made the fewest mistakes."
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