Players from the Wahpeton Wahppers and Cass County Catfish
The Wahpeton Wahppers amateur baseball team will compete for a North Dakota “AA” State Championship to wrap up its inaugural season.
The Wahppers trounced the Valley City Saints in the quarterfinals, 16-0. Reece Berberich and Ryan Loewe tallied three hits apiece and generated six runs.
Former Wahpeton Post 20 teammates Nick Zach and Cooper Klosterman formed a one-two punch on the bump.
Zach earned the win after pitching three shutout frames with two hits allowed, two walks and two strikeouts. Klosterman closed the contest with two scoreless and hitless innings, walking one and fanning four.
Jackson Fliflet, who was a game-time decision nursing a deep bruise in his leg, showed enough to make the lineup. Fliflet rewarded the Wahppers by plating three runs with a 400-foot homer.
Colton Frankl, former North Dakota State College of Science infielder and coach, added two hits as Wahpeton racked up 12 base knocks to reach the semifinals.
Tori Uhlich, Caden Kappes, Jake Uhlich and Frankl scored two runs each.
Wahpeton outlasted the Cass County Catfish in the semifinals, 9-5.
Frankl and Skyler Bladow posted three-hit games. Kappes and Frankl both doubled.
Wahpeton weathered a short start by Loewe, who allowed three earned runs across 2 ⅔ innings. Tori Uhlich, Trayce King and Kappes finished the contest, with King recording the win and Kappes locking down the save.
The Wahppers will face Tolna in the state championship Sunday, with game time and location to be determined, dependent on a rainy forecast.
