The Aberdeen Smittys geared up for the postseason by splitting a pair of games against the top-seeded team in the state on Sunday.

The Smittys fell to Harrisburg Gold 6-3 before bouncing back for a convincing 19-9 victory in American Legion baseball action at Fossum Field.

Aberdeen scored in just one inning of the opener and then scored in every inning but one in the nightcap.

The Smittys racked up 16 hits in six innings in the second contest. Aberdeen got on the board in the first inning thanks to an RBI double by Casey Vining and an RBI single by Brendan Livermont.

Harrisburg responded with a run of its own in the second inning before the Smittys added five more runs in the bottom half of the frame. Jaiden Smith had an RBI walk before Vining cranked a grand slam home run, extending the Smittys’ lead to 7-1.

“Everyone in the lineup seemed to be seeing the ball really well in that second game, especially the production at the bottom of the lineup,” said Aberdeen coach Brandon Kusler. “A lot of guys at the bottom of our lineup coming through with some big-time hits and finding ways on base.”

Harrisburg scored four runs in the third, cutting the deficit to 7-5. The visitors then took a brief 9-7 lead with four more runs in the top of the fourth. However, the Smittys responded with five runs in the bottom of the fourth, regaining the lead at 12-9. Andrew Ristau-Richardson recorded a two-run single before Cooper Eisenbeisz added a two-run double. Eisenbeisz later scored on an Ethan Kjenstad single.

From there, the Smittys pulled away, tallying four runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to close out the victory. Jackson Welke had a two-run single to highlight the fifth, and Ristau-Richardson and Eisenbeisz each delivered RBI singles in the sixth as the Smittys ended the game on the 10-run rule finishing with 19 total runs.

“That was huge for us to score as many runs as we did,” Kusler said.

Eisenbeisz got the win on the mound, pitching three innings, allowing five runs on five hits, and striking out one.

Ristau-Richardson and Welke each had three hits and knocked in three runs. Vining had a pair of hits and drove in four, while Eisenbeisz finished with a pair of hits and three RBI. Zane Backous added two hits.

The Smittys managed just hits five against their former teammate Braxton Kusler in the first game.

Harrisburg’s Carter Hoffman broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth with a three-run home run to right field, putting the Smittys in an early 3-0 hole.

Coach Kusler said the game came down to a few mistakes.

“Had that one shaky inning where we got a few guys on and then we make a mistake over the heart of the plate,” Kusler said. “Harrisburg’s a really good hitting team and they’re capable of putting the ball out of the yard like that. That definitely changed the game, but we didn’t go away quietly. We fought back and gave them our best shot.”

The Smittys fought back in the bottom of the fifth inning with three runs of their own to tie the score. Drew Salfrank’s double drove home Andrew Woehl and Welke, cutting the deficit to one. In the next at bat, Jaiden Smith hit a sac fly to center field to tie the game.

“(The) guys have done it all year and just putting together good at bats,” Coach Kusler said, “finding a way on base, even if it’s not the prettiest.”

Harrisburg regained the lead in the top of the sixth, tallying three runs. The Tigers then kept the Smittys off the board in the last two frames to earn the win.

“We knew they weren’t going to go away or anything after we fought back,” Coach Kusler said. “They just executed a little more offensively than we did toward the end of it, but I still thought we competed well.”

Salfrank pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing six runs on seven runs, striking out four and walking three. Kusler was pleased with Salfrank’s performance despite the loss.

“Drew did a really great job for us all day I thought,” Kusler said, “challenging a really good lineup and finding a way to get some really good hitters out.”

Salfrank led the offense with two hits, but Aberdeen struggled to get much going against the younger Kusler.

Coach Kusler had mixed feelings about coaching against his brother.

“It was weird because you’d think I’d have a little bit better scouting report on him than I did,” Kusler joked. “But he threw really well. He’s a competitor. That was a really cool experience to get to coach against him after previously coaching him a couple years ago. So, that was really cool, and I think pretty cool for my parents as well.”

The Smittys, 25-16, will wait to see who and where they will play in the playoffs this coming week. Kusler is hoping to carry the momentum of Sunday’s win into the postseason.

“We’ll see who we match up against, but like I just told the guys, we’re capable of competing with anybody in this state, and we just proved that,” Kusler said. “All year long we’ve beaten some really, really good teams, and it’s because we’re a really good team. So, I’m excited to see who we match up with on Thursday, and we’re just going to be ready to compete.”

Harrisburg Gold 000 303 0 – 6 8 1

Aberdeen Smittys 000 030 0 – 3 5 0

Braxton Kusler and M. Carlson; Drew Salfrank, Jaiden Smith, and Andrew Woehl; 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Casey Vining, Drew Salfrank. HR – Harrisburg, Carter Hoffman.

Harrisburg Gold 014 400 – 9 8 1

Aberdeen Smittys 250 543 – 19 16 2

Palmer Boyd, Coen Cook (4), Tate Larson (5) and Lincoln McCloud. Cooper Eisenbeisz, Casey Vining (4), Jaiden Smith (5) and Andrew Ristau-Richardson. 2B – Harrisburg, Gold, Noah Boschee, Maddux Scherer; Aberdeen Smittys, Casey Vining, Cooper Eisenbeisz; 3B – Aberdeen Smittys, Zane Backous. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Vining.