MITCHELL – Mitchell jumped on top of the Aberdeen Smittys early in both games and grabbed an American Legion baseball twinbill sweep Friday night.

Mitchell scored six runs in the first inning on the way to a 7-3 first game victory, and then plated four runs in the second inning of an 8-0 win in the second contest. The Smittys had won seven of their previous eight games entering the doubleheader.

“We just can’t afford to spot them six runs in the first inning,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler of the opening game. “Far too many errors and mental mistakes dug us too deep of a hole. You definitely can’t do that against a good team like Mitchell.”

The Smittys committed six errors in the first game, half of them coming in that pivotal first inning. Mitchell also received two-run singles from Jake Helleloid and Jace Larson in that frame.

Aberdeen had three extra-base hits in the setback, a pair of doubles by Josh Steinwandt and a triple by Casey Vining. Drew Salfrank had the other three hits for Aberdeen.

Helleloid dominated game two, allowing just three hits and striking out 12 batters. He also helped his cause with a solo home run.

“We ran into a really tough pitcher in Jake Helleloid and we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Kusler said. “We’ve gotta find a way to put more balls in play and put more pressure on them, and that’s going to be our priority moving into this next week. We’ll see them later on in the season, and we’re going to have to be more prepared than we were today.”

The Smittys, 13-10 on the season, play at Redfield Monday night.

Aberdeen Smittys 100 100 1 – 3 6 6

Mitchell 601 000 x – 7 7 0

Casey Vining, Andrew Woehl (4) and Brian Holmstrom; Landon Waddell, Peyton Schroeder (5) and Hudson Haley. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Josh Steinwandt 2. 3B – Aberdeen Smittys, Vining.

Aberdeen Smittys 000 000 0 – 0 3 2

Mitchell 040 013 x – 8 7 0

Brock Martin, Will Heinert (6) and Andrew Richardson; Jake Helleloid and McGinnis. 2B – Mitchell, Muth. HR – Mitchell, Helleloid.