Wahpeton Post 20 couldn’t escape its play-in fate Thursday with a chance to clinch a spot in the upcoming East Region Tournament. Needing a sweep to earn an outright bid into the tourney, Wahpeton split with the Casselton Haymakers.
Post 20 began the evening with a 4-0 win. Carter Hockert carried the squad to victory with a 101-pitch complete game on the mound. Hockert’s three-hit shutout included a trio of walks and six strikeouts.
The righty reached 50 innings for the summer, winning his fifth start and dropping his ERA to a team-low 1.82. Hockert boasts a 54:20 strikeout-to-walk ratio while holding opponents to a meager .230 batting average.
Trey King supplied an RBI single, while Brayden Steffens, Rylan Flack and Evan Dockter also singled to account for Wahpeton’s four hits. Eli Kappes, Cayson Pinsonneault, Riley Jones and Dockter each scored a run.
Jones stole two bases and Aiden Hajek swiped another.
Lucas Christiansen dueled with Hockert on the bump, tossing a complete game of his own. The Haymaker hurler allowed four hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts. Only one of the four runs he surrendered was earned.
In the nightcap, Casselton returned the favor, shutting out the visitors. Keagan Peterson pitched 5 ⅔ innings to earn the win, scattering four hits and four walks alongside seven strikeouts. Jackson Everson secured the four-out save, working around a hit with no walks and one strikeout.
Carver Kasowski led off for the Haymakers, batting 2-for-3 with a run and one RBI. Ryan Aasmundstad drove in a run, while Everson scored another and Bryce Mueller went 2-for-2.
Casselton’s Brody Kegley and Wahpeton’s Hockert both doubled for the game’s only extra-base hits. Wahpeton received singles from Ryan Braun, King, Heitkamp and Steffens.
