RAPID CITY – The Aberdeen Smittys received solid pitching, timely hitting and rolled to their third consecutive American Legion baseball victory with a 7-1 decision over Spearfish Saturday to conclude their play in a tournament in Rapid City.

The Smittys won their final three games after dropping their opening contest in the tourney.

Drew Salfrank and Ethan Kjenstad played major roles in the win over Spearfish. Salfrank had four hits (including a triple), pitched seven strong innings and struck out seven batters. Kjenstad had a pair of hits and knocked in three runs.

“Definitely a big day from those two,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler. “I really thought all of our guys had a lot of great at-bats today, but those two stood out for sure.”

The Smittys scored four times in the top of the second inning when Nick Clemens and Salfrank each drove in runs with singles and Clemens later stole home.

Kjenstad drove in another run in the third and then plated two more runs in the fifth.

“Ethan came through with some big hits for us to get some runs on the board,” Kusler said. “Drew did a little bit of everything for us today. Obviously solid at the plate with the four-hit game, but he was phenomenal on the mound.”

Salfrank allowed just four hits on the day and walked just one batter.

“He set the tone right away with a 10-pitch, three-strikeout first inning. Coach (Karson) Hesser and I were holding our breath, because he was so close to an immaculate inning, which you don’t see too often. After that first inning, you just had a good feeling that he was going to be great all day and he was.”

Kusler said a big key was not giving up free passes to base runners.

“I was most impressed that he only had one walk on the day. That’s what I feel is the recipe for success for our team,” Kusler said. “If we can minimize walks and errors defensively, we’re going to have a good chance to beat teams. We have to force teams to beat us by putting balls in play, and that’s exactly what Drew did today by filling up the zone and challenging hitters.”

The Smittys improved to 19-17 on the season with the victory. Aberdeen has its final home games of the season on Wednesday and Thursday. The Smittys host Rapid City Post 320 Stars at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and Huron in a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday.

“It was a big win today,” Kusler said, “and we’re looking forward to a couple days off before getting back to work.”

Aberdeen Smittys 041 020 0 – 7 10 2

Spearfish 010 000 0 – 1 4 0

Drew Salfrank and Andrew Richardson; Kaidon Feyereisen, Comer (5) and Carter Lyon. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Casey Vining. 3B – Aberdeen Smittys, Drew Salfrank.