BASEBALL: Bemidji turns two against EGF, sweeps return to home territory

BEMIDJI -- Everybody could use a lucky bounce now and then. Just ask Hunter Brodina.

“I hit it good, and it took a lucky bounce for my team,” the Bemidji American Legion second baseman said of his walk-off heroics. “I was pretty relieved. Obviously I was nervous when I got up, but very relieved that it got through.”

Brodina was the benefactor of a fortunate hop on Wednesday, as his single up the middle ricocheted off second base and allowed Ty Lundeen to score the walk-off run for the Centaurs.

The back-and-forth battle with East Grand Forks ended in a 9-8 triumph, and Bemidji poured it on with an 11-3 win in the finale of a doubleheader at the BSU baseball field.

“We came out a little bit flat today,” head coach Nate Blumhagen said, “but we were glad to see that the guys could stay the course today and at least learn some lessons in victory rather than the hard way.”

The game also marked the first home contests for the Legion team in two years. Although a summer team competed informally in 2020, the pandemic wiped away the official season and kept the players from repping Post 14.

“It’s nice to get back to real baseball and not just scrimmaging,” said Brodina, who finished the opening game 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. “It’s a really encouraging start, and a good way to get back after losing in sections (during the high school season).”

In game one, Bemidji spotted EGF five runs in the top of the fourth, but the Centaurs came back to tie in the home half. Brodina clubbed a two-run single, another run came in on a wild pitch, the next on a passed ball and finally the tying run on Parker Mistic’s RBI single.

East Grand Forks took back the lead at 6-5 in the sixth, but the Centaurs stormed back for a 7-6 edge in the home half. Once more, EGF scored a pair in the seventh to flip the advantage at 8-7, but Brodina delivered his walk-off right after JD Kondos hit a game-tying RBI single with two outs.

“If we go throughout the game, there’s probably a bounce here or a bounce there that can send the game in opposite directions,” Blumhagen said. “We’ll take (wins) where we can get them.”

A 30-minute lightning delay held up game two of the doubleheader, which was a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning when the bolt hit the pause button.

It didn’t stay that way for long, though, because Post 14 plated eight runs in the bottom of the sixth for the decisive difference. Aaron Heger jumped on the first pitch he saw for a two-run home run over the 24-foot wall in left, and Mistic torched the basepaths for a two-RBI triple later in the frame.

Lundeen went six innings on the mound to pick up the win, allowing three runs while scattering seven hits and striking out nine.

“It felt good just to see us bust out at the end and find our swings a little bit,” Blumhagen said. “(The pitching) was the encouraging thing to me, even more so than offensively: guys grabbing the ball and being able to get it done.”

Now 6-1 on the young season, Bemidji will return to the road at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 24, to play two against Thief River Falls.

Bemidji 9, East Grand Forks 8

EGF 000 501 2 -- 8-8-2

BHS 000 502 2 -- 9-9-1

WP: I. Biehn (3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

LP: Robinson (2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

Bemidji 11, East Grand Forks 3

EGF 100 020 0 -- 3-8-4

BHS 102 008 X -- 11-14-0

WP: Lundeen (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K)

LP: Vetterkind (5+ IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K)

1/4: Bemidji’s Parker Mistic hits an RBI single in the first game of a doubleheader against East Grand Forks on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at the BSU baseball field. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)

2/4: Bemidji’s Isaiah Biehn throws (6) throws to first in the first game of a doubleheader against East Grand Forks on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at the BSU baseball field. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)

3/4: The Centaurs celebrate after scoring off a two-RBI single from Hunter Brodina in the first game of a doubleheader against East Grand Forks on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at the BSU baseball field. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)

4/4: Bemidji’s Ben Corradi throws a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader against East Grand Forks on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at the BSU baseball field. (Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer)