Pitching, defense help Chiefs sweep Eagles (2024)

The Mandan Chiefs have had a tough time scoring runs lately.

On Thursday, their pitching staff made sure they didn’t need an offensive explosion to pick up a pair of wins.

Gage Miller, Hudsen Sheldon and Dylan Gierke got the job done on the mound and the Chiefs’ bats produced eight runs in posting a pair of 4-2 statewide conference wins over Jamestown at Memorial Ballpark.

“There’s multiple sides to the game and we’re going through a rut where we went 17 straight innings without scoring, so it was nice to get a little bit of timely hitting,” Chiefs coach Jake Kincaid said. “I think you always want more, you can never have enough of that but I was proud of the at bats we put together for the most part.”

“We’ve been on a skid,” Sheldon said. “It’s no secret, we haven’t been playing our best, especially offensively and once we start throwing strikes, it just seems to lock everyone in both at the dish and on the mound.”

Strong starts by Miller and Sheldon and some early run support in each game led to a pair of victories for Mandan.

“The biggest thing is they threw strikes and were competitive with their pitches,” Kincaid said. “We just found a way to get all 42 outs and I’m proud of the way they were competitors.”

“The more strikes we throw, the more into the game we are,” Sheldon said.

Miller kept working out of trouble on the mound in the first game.

The Chiefs left-hander held the Eagles to three hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10 batters. But Jamestown drew five walks and had runners on base in every inning but the third – Miller’s only 1-2-3 inning of the night.

Jamestown stranded nine batters in the game, including six left in scoring position.

“He’s always going to be around the zone,” Sheldon said. “His strikeout numbers are always going to be high. He’s our ace. He does a phenomenal job.”

“He did a good job of minimizing,” Kincaid said. “I think he had 10 strikeouts. He has the capability of putting hitters away. I’d like to see him be a little more efficient so he can maybe finish the game, but I thought Dylan Gierke did a great job both games coming in as well.”

Owen Brincks led off the third with a double to left and came in to score the Chiefs’ first run on a Sheldon sacrifice fly.

Mandan tacked on two runs in the fourth. McCoy Keller led off with a single and Brayden Bunnell followed with a ground-rule double to left. Jamison Nelson’s one-out, two-run single to left made it 3-0.

Jamestown got on the board with two runs in the fifth. Tyson Jorissen singled with one out, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Jaxon Kolpin followed with an RBI single to make it 3-2.

Bunnell led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single and went to third on Gage Miller’s single to right. He came home with the Chiefs’ fourth run on a Nelson sac fly.

Miller threw 106 pitches, the final one capping his 10th strikeout of the night.

Gierke allowed a single but then struck out Ethan Oettle to end the sixth and worked around a walk and a single in the seventh, stranding runners at second and third to pick up the save.

“He’s like Gage. They’re both lefties, they have some good stuff that is hard to hit,” Sheldon said. “Dylan isn’t necessarily a guy who is going to go seven innings and throw a ton of pitches but he’s very efficient with the pitches he throws.”

Sheldon came one out away from going the distance in the nightcap.

An early lead helped.

“It gets the energy up for everybody in the dugout and sets the tone, for sure,” Sheldon said.

Mandan jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jamestown starter Thomas Newman in the first.

Sheldon singled and went to third when the ball got away from the Eagles' left fielder. He came in to score on a wild pitch.

Keller and Bunnell were hit by pitches, with Keller scoring on a Miller single and Bunnell scoring on a Nelson groundout.

Sheldon made the early lead stand up. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He hit two batters and struck out three.

“He leaned on his defense a lot, which is what we want him to do,” Kincaid said. “And we played really good defensively tonight. That has broken down for us a bit earlier here, but it was good to see the players prove to themselves that they can make those plays.”

Jamestown strung together four hits in the fourth, getting a two-run single by Bennett Goehner to pull within a run at 3-2.

Gierke led off the fifth with a single and scored on a Miller sacrifice fly for a 4-2 Mandan lead.

Sheldon threw 102 pitches before giving way to Gierke with two outs and two runners on in the seventh. Gierke struck out Jaxon Kolpin to earn his second save of the day.

The Chiefs play in the Minot Justin Demary Memorial tournament starting on Friday. Mandan plays Glendive, Mont., at 10 a.m. and Pierre, S.D., at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. They take on South Central, Manitoba, at 12:15 p.m. and Minot at 7 p.m. on Saturday.