Bailey Schmitz hit a home run and drove in eight runs to lead the Crookston Reds Amateur Baseball team to a 14-2 win Monday night over the Fargo Mets.
The Reds opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Will Zimmerman reached on an error to lead off the inning, stole second and third, before scoring on a ground ball by Schmitz for a 1-0 lead.
The Reds would extend their lead in the second when Alex Wolfe singled with one out and scored on a standup triple by Cody Wardner. Jackson Seibel would follow with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Following a flyout for the second out of the inning, Seibel moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Matt Morin. Schmitz would follow with an RBI double to score Morin to make it 5-0 after two innings. “We jumped out to another early lead and for the first time all season we didn’t give it up,” said Reds Manager Rob Silvers. “Bailey had an outstanding day driving in runs practically every time up and Matt threw strikes all game long.”
The Mets would get a run back in the third when Reds pitcher Matt Morin walked the leadoff hitter, who moved to second on a wild pitch. He’d come home to score on a one-out RBI single to make it 5-1. A throwing error put runners on second and third with one-out but Morin got the next hitter to fly out before sending the inning with a groundout to Zimmerman. The Reds went back to work in the bottom of the fifth when Zimmerman led off with a single, again stealing second and third. A walk put runners on the corners for Schmitz who singled home a run to make it 6-1. Two batters later Morin would come home to score on a ground ball to make it 7-1.
The Mets would get a run back in the fifth when the leadoff man singled to left and went to third after the left fielder misplayed the ball allowing it to get to the wall. Following a walk to put runners on the corners, Morin threw a wild pitch allowing the run to score to make it 7-2 while the trail runner moved to second. Silvers, the Reds catcher, threw wide of Morin trying to get the runner coming home and the trail runner broke for third before second baseman Lars Brevik picked up the ball and tossed it to Schmitz on third for the first out of the inning. The next two batters were retired and the Reds led 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Reds would break things open in the bottom of the frame when a walk followed by back-to-back singles loaded the bases with nobody out. Matt Morin would hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 8-2 and Schmitz followed that up with a three-run home run to left to make it 11-2. “Bailey was great at the plate,” said Silvers. “He had two doubles and a home run and picked up eight RBI. You’re not going to get days like that often and while the rest of the team did their job getting on, this is a different ball game if Bailey isn’t seeing the ball that well.” The Reds added three more in the sixth inning to bring the run rule into effect. With one out and runners on the corners, Zimmerman picked up an RBI ground out to make it 12-2. Following an error to put runners on the corner again with one-out, Schmitz would double scoring both runs to make it 14-2. Blake Kawlewski threw a scoreless seventh to seal the victory.
The Reds improve to 3-2 on the year and will play on the road Wednesday at Fargo North High School against the Dilworth Raildogs. Fargo drops to 0-2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Fargo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| CROOKSTON | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | x | 14 | 14 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Matt Morin – Crox (WP) | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Blake Kawlewski – Crox | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
For Crookston
Bailey Schmitz 4-5, HR, 8 RBI, 2 doubles, run
Will Zimmerman 2-5, 4 stolen bases, 3 runs
Cody Wardner 2-3, triple, RBI, 2 runs
Jackson Seibel 2-4, RBI, 3 runs
