NSAA Baseball Tournament Preview

VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- The Bellevue University baseball team is heading up to Valley City, N.D. for the North Star Athletic Association Tournament.

Four teams comprise each of two brackets. The Valley City Bracket has #1 Bellevue, #4 Dickinson State, #5 Waldorf, and #8 Valley City State. The Jamestown Bracket has #2 Jamestown, #3 Dakota State, #6 Mayville State, and #7 Viterbo.

Both brackets will play a double-elimination tournament with the winners meeting in a one game winner-take-all championship to determine the league's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.

Bellevue has already secured one of the two automatic bids by virtue of winning the conference's regular-season championship. If the Bruins win the tournament championship as well, the tournament runner-up will earn the conference's second bid.

Valley City Bracket Field:

No. 1 Bellevue (43-9/20-3 NSAA) is chasing their 13^th conference tournament championship and their 18^th NAIA National Tournament appearance. The Bruins won 12 titles in the now-defunct MCAC (1995, 1997-04, 2006-09, 2011-15). BU is 20-4 in the month of April and one of just two teams in the conference not to have lost back-to-back games at any point during the season.

No. 8 Valley City State (18-33/9-14 NSAA) righted the ship in their final five games of the regular season. After losing nine straight from Apr. 17-26, VCSU closed with wins in three of their last five games.

No. 4 Dickinson State (25-25/12-10 NSAA) used a strong run over their final 12 games (9-3) to recover for a .500 season and finish two games over .500 in league play.

No. 5 Waldorf (17-31/13-11 NSAA) spent much of the conference season in third place but stumbled down the stretch, going 2-7 in their final nine games to slip to fifth place in the final standings.

The Series:

Bellevue and Valley City played a four-game set at Charlie Brown Stadium from Apr. 17-18 which saw Bellevue complete their lone conference road sweep of the season. The Bruins out-scored the Vikings by a combined 34-11 margin, winning by scores of 9-3, 9-1, 8-6 (8 Inn.), and 8-1.

Bellevue and Dickinson State played a triple-header back on Mar. 25 at Westgate Field to open the conference slate with BU coming away with victories in each of the three contests. Bellevue yielded just two runs in the three games, winning by scores of 6-0, 4-0, and 3-2.

Bellevue and Waldorf played a four-game series at Roddy Field on Senior Weekend and the Bruins won the series, claiming victories in three of the four games. Bellevue won games one (13-4), two (16-0), and four (12-1) by a combined 41-5 margin. Waldorf became the lone North Star team to beat Bellevue on one of their home fields with a 7-6 win in game three.

Fun Facts:

Bellevue is the only team in the North Star that features four pitchers with at least eight wins on their staff.

Bellevue is the top defensive team in the country with a .977 fielding percentage.

Players to Watch:

Bellevue –

• Sr. RHP Aaron Bain (4-1, 3.08 ERA, 34 SO, 38.0 IP)
• Sr. 2B Ross Feeley (.349/.465/.379, 5 XBH, 23 RBI, 44 Runs, 8 SB)
• Sr. OF Trevor Jones (.402/.446/.503, 13 XBH, 35 RBI, 49 Runs, 8 SB)
• Sr. 1B Joe Mancuso (360/.455/.573, 7 XBH, 20 RBI, 15 Runs)
• Sr. OF Colton Nash (.337/.385/.428, 13 XBJ, 36 RBI, 43 Runs)
• Sr. RHP Leland Tilley (8-1, 7 Saves, 2.03 ERA, 36 SO, 31.0 IP)
• Sr. LHP Braulio Torres-Perez (8-1, 2.61 ERA, 75 SO, 82.2 IP)
• Jr. OF Derik Bontempo (.403/.451/.586, 23 XBH, 55 RBI, 35 Runs)
• Jr. C Jake Browne (.333/.411/.442, 8 XBH, 34 RBI, 14 Runs)
• Jr. RHP Ben McKendall (10-1, 1.57 ERA, 106 SO, 92.0 IP)
• Jr. OF Joe Moran (.505/.519/.732, 15 XBH, 18 RBI, 32 Runs)
• Jr. RHP/1B Todd Nicks (8-1, 2.84 ERA, 58 SO, 57.0 IP)

Valley City State –

• Sr. RHP David Whitaker (5-4, 4.46 ERA, 59 SO, 74.2 IP)
• Jr. C Brady Anderson (.347/.413/.567, 21 XBH, 38 RBI, 31 Runs)
• Jr. IF Joe Demers (.359/.458/.525, 17 XBH, 29 RBI, 46 Runs, 6 SB)
• Jr. IF Jared Meiklejohn (.287/.354/.393, 12 XBH, 23 RBI, 41 Runs, 9 SB)
• So. RHP Andrew Frank (2-5, 5.04 ERA, 58 SO, 60.2 IP)
• So. RHP Jordon Roos (2-4, 4.63 ERA, 21 SO, 46.2 IP)

Dickinson State –

• Sr. IF Jake Hignite (.368/.397/.568, 22 XBH, 47 RBI, 46 Runs, 20 SB)
• Sr. RHP Josh Schuller (6-7, 5.09 ERA, 86 SO, 86.2 IP)
• Jr. LHP Sean Getchell (2-1, 6 Saves, 3.18 ERA, 37 SO, 34.0 IP)
• Jr. IF Sagan Osborne (.359/.421/.503, 22 XBH, 42 RBI, 34 Runs)
• So. C Jacob Cuch (.336/.434/.445, 12 XBH, 27 RBI, 25 Runs)
• Fr. RHP Jason Thibault (2-2, 4.32 ERA, 34 SO, 33.1 IP)

Waldorf –

• Sr. RHP Trevor Bauer (3-0, 4 Saves, 2.45 ERA, 33 SO, 25.2 IP)
• Jr. OF/RHP Michael Keeran (.447/.536/.667, 22 XBH, 30 RBI, 34 Runs)
• Jr. IF Bruce Mau (.360/.389/.467, 12 XBH, 28 RBI, 28 Runs)
• So. RHP Adam Kovash (3-5, 7.28 ERA, 15 SO, 50.2 IP)
• Fr. OF Mitchell Keeran (.339/.415/.575, 24 XBH, 31 RBI, 41 Runs)
• Fr. IF Garrett Gillen (.336/.373/.421, 10 XBH, 21 RBI, 18 Runs, 9 SB)

What's next?:

The winner of the Bellevue-Valley City game advances to play the winner of the Dickinson State-Waldorf game while the loser drops into the loser's bracket against either the Blue Hawks or Warriors.

The winner of the Valley City Bracket meets the winner of the Jamestown Bracket in a one game winner-take-all championship game. The Jamestown Bracket is composed of Jamestown, Dakota State, Mayville State, and Viterbo.

Valley City Bracket Schedule:

Friday, May 6 (Charlie Brown Stadium, Valley City, N.D.)
Bracket Game 1: No. 5 Waldorf (17-31/13-11 NSAA) vs. No. 4 Dickinson State (25-25/12-10 NSAA), Noon
Bracket Game 2: No. 8 Valley City State (18-33/9-14 NSAA) vs. No. 1 Bellevue (43-9/20-3 NSAA), 3 p.m.

Saturday, May 7 (Charlie Brown Stadium, Valley City, N.D.)
Bracket Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, (Loser Eliminated), 11 a.m.
Bracket Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2 p.m.
Bracket Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, (Loser Eliminated), 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 8 (Jack Brown Stadium, Jamestown, N.D.)
Bracket Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (Bracket Championship), 11 a.m.

Monday, May 9 (Jack Brown Stadium, Jamestown, N.D.)
Bracket Game 7: Same Teams as Game 6 (If Necessary), 11 a.m.
Championship Game: Valley City Bracket Winner vs. Jamestown Bracket Winner, 2 p.m. or 5 p.m.