Adam Papin/MDN Velva-Drake/Anamoose’s Kason Larsen pitches during Game 2 of the Aggies’ doubleheader against Bishop Ryan on Thursday.

As the high school baseball season hits its midpoint, the top teams in each region are beginning to emerge. In Class B, Region VI, the Velva-Drake/Anamoose Aggies are emerging as a favorite. On Thursday afternoon, the Aggies swept the defending region champion Bishop Ryan Lions 6-2 and 9-4 in a doubleheader delayed twice by weather.

Neither team got much offense going in Game 1 until the top of the sixth inning when Reggie Brunner hit a line drive triple to right field that scored Bradyn Bossart, to extend the Aggies lead to 2-0. The next batter Luke Selzler hit a two-run blast over the right-field wall, scoring Bruner to double Velva-Drake/Anamoose’s lead.

“We had base runners on, and I just had to advance them,” said Selzer about his home run. “We needed runs at the time, so I just went out there with the good mindset of ‘I’m gonna hit that ball.'”

Bishop Ryan opened the bottom half of the inning with three consecutive singles. Jack Passa scored on the next play when Drew Zwak reached first on catcher’s interference to make the score 4-1. One batter later, Jett Lundeen hit a ground ball single to score Teagan Coonrod to cut the Lions’ deficit in half.

Then Ramsey Walz grounded into a fielder’s choice and Seth Wolf was tagged out while trying to score for the first out. Wesley Nicholson struck out Calvin Olson before Mack Shean grounded out to Nicholson to end the threat.

“I thought Wesley pitched really well, located and changed speeds and hit spots. Then we got defense behind it,” said Velva-Drake/Anamoose baseball head coach Matt Weidler. “Give them [Bishop Ryan] credit for putting guys on, but it was good for the guys to get out of that jam, and you have to do things like that sometimes to win games.”

Bruner added a two-run single in the top of the seventh to score K. Larsen and Ben Schepp, sealing the 6-2 victory. Bruner finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, as he had a single, double and triple in the game.

Nicholson pitched a complete game for the Aggies, allowing two runs on seven hits, while striking out six and walking none.

Zwak got the start for Bishop Ryan and pitched five innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He also struck out six batters and walked two. Lundeen pitched two innings of relief, allowing two runs on two hits, while giving up two walks and finishing with two strikeouts.

The Aggies opened the second game with four runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by Reese Steffan’s two-run single that scored Patrick Effertz and Cooper Kittleson. Schepp and Bossert also scored in the inning, as the Aggies led 4-0 after the first inning.

Jace Schwan hit a line drive double to left field that scored Ramsey Walz to put Bishop Ryan on the board in the bottom of the second. An inning later Zwak hit an RBI triple that scored Passa to cut the Aggies lead to 4-2.

Larsen and Mason McPeak both scored in the top of the fourth after a lengthy weather delay as Velva-Drake/Anamoose jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Aggies added three more runs in the top of the fifth before Bishop Ryan answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, as Hayden Seay scored on a wild pitch and Boden Erck scored on a passed ball.

The game was delayed a second time before being called with Velva-Drake/Anamoose up 9-4.

“I thought this was one of the better sets of games we played,” said Weidler. “Guys have stayed locked in, you know, with some weather cancellations and postponements. We’d like to get a little continuity and just get in a rhythm with some games.”

Bishop Ryan falls to 8-3 on the year with the losses. The Lions will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Central McClean on Tuesday, May 7 for a doubleheader.

Velva-Drake/Anamoose improves to 12-3 overall. Next up for the Aggies is a trip to Rugby on Saturday, May 4. First pitch is at 11 a.m.