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2008 South Dakota American
Legion State 'A' Tournament

Smittys advance, eliminating Post 320

Bryce Anglin taking his lead from second after driving home the game-winning run in the seventh inning.

    ABERDEEN -- The Aberdeen Smittys combined timely two-out hitting along with taking advantage of Post 320 errors to propel them to a 3-1 victory in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon in Aberdeen. Justin Kline went the distance for the Smittys on the mound, and limited Post 320 to just seven hits, two walks, while striking out five.
    Post 320 would strike first as they scored in the third inning thanks to an Aberdeen Smitty error. After retiring the first hitter, Kline allowed back to back singles before getting a routine double-play ball off of the bat of Chris Lindemann, only to have an errant throw allow the lead runner to scamper home with two outs. However, Justin Kline would get the Smittys out of harm in that inning, and each of the subsequent ones as well, as Post 320 would leave 8 runners on base in the third through ninth innings.
    Aberdeen would come back after their struggle in the third inning by scoring three unanswered runs to win the contest, scoring each of the three with two outs. Evan Jordre chased home Sam Heintzman with an RBI single in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1. Then, in the seventh inning, Bryce Anglin tomahawked a single into shallow left-center field to score Brendon Hoellein to take a lead at 2-1. Finally, the Smittys added an insurance run in the eighth as Justin Kline scored after four errors were committed by Post 320 in the inning.
    Post 320 would not go quietly, however, in the ninth, as they loaded the bases with one out. Kline then induced a 6-4-3 double play to preserve the win.
    Aberdeen will advance to play the winner of the Post 22/Mitchell match-up that is scheduled for 1:00 P.M. Sunday afternoon.