Thompson wins NDHSAA Class B baseball state title

June 5, 2022 1:45 am

By Tom Mix
NDHSAA Media Specialist

FARGO – The Thompson hit parade kept right on marching Saturday during the 2022 NDHSAA Class B baseball state championship game.

Entering the championship game, Thompson had scored a combined 38 runs off 25 hits in its first two games of the state tournament.

On Saturday, the No. 2 seeded Tommies scored 11 runs off 10 hits to defeat No. 1 seed LaMoure-Litchville/Marion 11-7 in the title game of the 2022 NDHSAA Class B Baseball State Tournament played at Newman Outdoor Field.

The Tommies also got a solid start on the mound from senior Kyle Odenbach who struckout 11 batters in 5 ⅓ innings pitched to get the victory. Odenbach gave up four runs in the first inning, but after that he settled in and let the Tommies’ bats get the squad back in front.

At the plate, Thompson didn’t wait to get the slugfest going. Senior first baseman Ryan Strande connected for a bases-loaded double in the first inning that cleared the bases and gave the Tommies a 3-0 lead. Strande finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two walks.

In the bottom of the first, Odenbach walked two Loboes and gave up a two-run triple to Landon Piehl. Garrett Hebl kept the line moving for the Loboes, cracking a two-run single up the middle to put LaMoure-L/M up 4-3.

Thompson tied the game in the top of the third inning and broke the game up in the fourth scoring four runs highlighted by a two-run single by Odenbach, who finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

The Tommies added three more runs in the fifth to take a 11-4 advantage. The Loboes started a late inning rally scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Thompson (17-1) last won a Class B baseball state championship in 2016 and were runners up three straight years (2017-19). LaMoure-L/M also finished runner up in 2021 and ended a successful 2021-22 school year that saw its male athletic teams win the 2021 NDHSAA 9-man football state championship and its boys basketball team finish in third place at the 2022 NDHSAA Class B state tournament.  

2022 NDHSAA CLASS B BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT BRACKET

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