Knights season reaches bitter end at State Championship

The season reached a bitter end for the Medicine Hat K of C Knights on Sunday in Grand Forks, Mont.

After battling their way into the American Legion Baseball A State Championship final four and staking a 7-5 lead over the Bitterroot Red Sox entering the seventh and final inning, it all unraveled.

Wyatt Bergen had a stellar start to Sunday’s season ending loss —holding the Red Sox to two runs over the first five innings while helping his team build up a 6-2 lead — but Bitterroot finally got to Bergen in the sixth before rallied for the walk-off in the seventh.

Bergen left the mound after 6 and 1/3 innings of work before Justin Bourassa entered the game in relief, looking to close out the game. But the Red Sox capitalized with runners in scoring position and handed Bourassa the loss and a blown save after two runs on a hit through 1/3 of an inning.

Knights centre fielder Joel Herron went 1-for-4 with 2 RBI from the nine-hole, while Theryn Berndt added his team’s only other RBI in a 0for-2 effort and Ethan Boutkan had the lone multiple-hit afternoon, going 2-for3.

The Knights reached the final four after knocking out the rival Lewistown Redbirds with a convincing 8-2 victory Saturday. The Redbirds handed Medicine Hat its only two losses in the North District championship, the second of which came in the tournament final. But the Knights were unable to ride that momentum into another back-door championship appearance.

Easton Brooks held the Redbirds to two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts for the complete game victory. Bergen had 2 RBI in a 2-for-4 outing for the victory, while Berndt went 3-for-4 with 1 RBI.