GLENDIVE, Mont. – The NIACC baseball team is one win away from playing in its first NJCAA Division II World Series.
NIACC picked up two wins Saturday over Miles Community College (3-1) and Dakota County Technical and Community College (10-2 in seven innings) to advance to the championship game of the North Plains District tournament.
“We got two good pitching performances (Saturday),” NIACC coach Travis Hergert said. “Tim Black had 11 strikeouts and Nick Veale pitched 6 2/3 innings – a gutty, gutty performance. That’s where it starts right there.”
NIACC faces DCTC in the championship game at noon (Mountain time) on Sunday. DCTC (19-19) would have to beat NIACC twice to claim the title. DCTC topped Miles CC 5-3 in the elimination game on Saturday.
The winner of the North Plains district advances to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Oklahoma May 25-June 1.
“Pedal down,” Hergert said. “We’re not looking ahead yet.
“We’ve taken a one-game mentality and we’ve got Lucas Bakker going (Sunday) and that’s exactly what we’re looking for. We expect nothing but the best from him and let’s go win this thing.”
NIACC (28-16) topped Miles CC in the opener behind a two-hit pitching performance from Black, a sophomore right-hander.
The Trojans stopped DCTC in seven innings in their second game to advance to the district title game as they scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game by the eight-run rule.
Veale, a freshman right-hander, struck out three and walked five in his 6 2/3 innings of work. He allowed two runs to DCTC in the third inning before departing with two outs in the seventh inning.
In both games Saturday, NIACC scored three runs in the first inning to take the early lead.
“That was fantastic,” Hergert said. “It gives you a cushion and helps you settle in.
“It was big to get that 3-spot on the board in both games.”
Sophomore Ryan Voves was 2 for 4 with a double against Miles CC and 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs in the second game against DCTC.
“It was nice to see Ryan get it going,” Hergert said. “He’d been struggling a bit lately.
“He’d been taking good swings but he put it together (Saturday).”
In the first game, Black (5-3) struck out 11 and walked one in the nine-inning victory.
“The first one in a double-elimination tournament is huge,” NIACC sophomore outfielder Ryan Voves said. “You have to get the first one.”
NIACC (27-16) plated all three of its runs in the first inning. Drew Verstegen drove in a run with a single and Max Waletich hit a 2-run home run, his first of the season.
“He was saving it for the right time,” Hergert said. “He got all of it.”
Miles CC scored its lone run in the sixth inning on a throwing error.
For NIACC, Brett Guba, Verstegen and Voves all collected two hits.
Black moved his school-record strikeout total to 116 and moved to second on the single-season strikeout list with 60. He’s also tied with teammate Lucas Bakker for first on the career innings pitched list with 125 2/3.
“You know Tim is always going to give us a solid outing,” Voves said. “We just have to give him a little more run support and he’ll be fine.”
Black said he had good command of his fastball on Saturday.
“I was getting ahead of the lefties with the curveball,” he said. “I was getting them inside and they were rolling over on a lot of stuff. It was nice.”
In the second game against DCTC, NIACC received two hits (both doubles) and two RBIs and the two hits and three RBIs from Voves.
In the fifth inning, NIACC sophomore Hunter King injured his ankle rounding second base and was tagged out.
“We’ll probably be down a man (Sunday) with Hunter King spraining his ankle,” Hergert said. “It’ll be a game-time decision.”
NIACC 3, Miles Community College 1
NIACC 300 000 000 – 3 9 3
Miles CC 000 001 000 – 1 2 0
Tim Black (11K, 1BB) and Robert Swenson. Jake Mills (8K, 1BB) and Jake Harris. 2B – Ryan Voves (N). HR – Max Waletich (N). Multiple hits – Drew Verstegen (N) 2, Voves 2. Multiple RBIs – Waletich (N) 2.
NIACC 10, Dakota County 2 (7)
Dakota County 002 000 0 – 2 6 2
NIACC 302 010 4 – 10 10 3
Lucas Long (5K, 4BB), Roy Hotvedt (6) (0K, 2BB), Joel Klinkhammer (7) (0K, 0BB) and Matt Wixon. Nick Veale (3K, 5BB), Isaac Willenbring (7) (0K, 0BB) and Swenson. 2B – Chris Gaynor (DC), Alex Stuart (N) 2, Reynaldo Sala (N), Waletich. 3B – Zach Garner (DC). Multiple hits – Garner 2, Brett Guba (N) 2, Stuart 2, Voves 2. Multiple RBIs – Waletich 2, Sala 2, Voves 3.
