DICKINSON, N.D. - The No. 6 seed La Sierra baseball team faced fellow Cal Pac opponent No. 4 seed Simpson University in the third round of the North Star Athletic Association Championship Tournament at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark in Dickinson, North Dakota where they eliminated the Red Hawks in a 7-4 victory.
The Golden Eagles traveled just under 1,500 miles to face their fellow Cal Pac opponent the Simpson University Red Hawks. The two teams faced each other 7 times this season with Simpson taking the season with four wins over the Golden Eagles three. La Sierra secured their place in the postseason with a win against the Red Hawks in their final conference game of the year. These two teams are no strangers to one another, but now walk into an even playing field in the postseason.
The collective team effort from the Golden Eagles pushed them past the Red Hawks for the win. Ethan Gibbs and Matthew Pontes both hit 3 for 4, and Stephen Chavez hitting .500. Bobby Benavidez also added 2 RBIs. Nico Masucci had his second longest outing of the year going for 5 innings with a season high of 7 strikeouts and only giving up two hits. The Golden Eagles defense remained solid with impressive plays from Jose Leon and Pontes.
La Sierra was placed as the away team for the game, and were first up to bat to start the game. Little noise was made from La Sierra in the first inning, but a well executed pick off to get Dean Samuel out at first could have proved to be a deciding factor later in the game. Adam Amaro was walked shortly after the pick off and Gibbs singled to left which could have scored Samuel. Gavin Copeland grounded out to end the inning.
A surprise start on the mound came from Alex Cummings. This was Cummings first appearance since his injury against the Red Hawks on March 30th. The first two Simpson batters got on base by a single and an error, and they advanced to second and third on a sac bunt. Cummings came back to strike the next batter out to put the inning at two outs and both runners in scoring position. A wild pitch, also ball four, scored another run. With tensions high between both teams, the umpires issued warnings across the board. The runner at first stole second, but the throw was not in time. The runner on third scored as a result of this play. Cummings struck the batter out to end the inning.
The Golden Eagles added a double from Pontes in the second with a few hard hits from Chavez and Leon, but could not cut down Simpson's lead in the second. An inning ending 1-6-3 double play from La Sierra, got the Golden Eagle's back up to bat.
Back at the top of the line up, Benavidez singled to center and advanced on the error. Benavidez advanced to third on Samuel's ground out. With speed on third, Benavidez scored the Golden Eagles first run on a short sac fly to left field from Amaro. Cummings continued his momentum into the bottom of the inning to strikeout the second batter. Pontes laid out for the catch in left, and a ground ball to short ended the inning.
La Sierra went down on three strikeouts in the fourth. Jayden Jones took over on the mound. Leon made a top 10 diving back handed play at third to steal a hit from the Red Hawks. Leon remained solid at third throughout the whole nine.
The Golden Eagles made solid contact in the fifth, but went down one, two, three. The first four Red Hawks all hit to get on base and were able to tack on two more runs. A pitching change came in the form of Masucci where he sat the next three batters down.
The sixth inning was no different for La Sierra with another one, two, three. Masucci and the La Sierra defense held Simpson in the bottom.
Chavez led off the inning with a homerun to cut the lead in half. La Sierra offense forced Simpson to make two pitching changes in the inning, once after a hit by pitch, fielder's choice and single, and again after a line out and walk. The decision from the Red Hawks worked in their favor by getting out of a bases loaded jam. Two ground outs, a walk, and a pick off ended the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Golden Eagles opened up their bats in a team effort in the eighth. Gibbs led off the inning double down the right field line. Copeland reached on an error and Smentek took over on the bases. A sac bunt from Chavez and a single from Pontes scored one run. Head Coach Chris Davis called an offensive timeout to put a play into action. Mitchell laid down the squeeze, and an overthrow from the pitcher tied the game. Leon came up to walk, and his final pitch was a passed ball that scored a run and the Golden Eagles took the lead. Bobby singled to right to score the final two runs of the game. With Masucci still on the bump, he tossed a one, two, three inning.
The Golden Eagles were able to get runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth, but could not produce another run. The game came down to the final three outs. Masucci led off the inning with a strikeout. A single to left gave the Red Hawks some hope, but Masucci shut it down with another strikeout. A walk brought up the tying batter to the plate, but Masucci was a powerhouse and finished the game with a strikeout looking.
The Golden Eagles eliminated their fellow Cal Pac opponent and advanced to another day of play. The No. 6 seed La Sierra (21-19) move on to face No. 5 seed Dakota State (26-23) Sunday, May 4 at 12 p.m. MT (11 a.m. PT). Dakota State lost to Simpson in the first round, 9-5, eliminated Valley City State, 5-4, and eliminated Mayville State, 16-6. The Golden Eagles look to continue their momentum as they take on their next opponent.
Follow the link below for more tournament information, live stream, and live stats;
https://playnorthstar.com/news/2025/4/28/2025-nsaa-baseball-postseason-tournament-pairings-announced.aspx
