HURON – The Aberdeen Smittys swept past Huron on Saturday afternoon to avenge an earlier-season setback. The Smittys won the opener 8-3 before rolling to a 15-1 decision in the nightcap in American Legion baseball action to improve to 20-11 on the season.

Aberdeen pitchers allowed one run in four different innings in the sweep. Zane Backous struck out nine batters in the opener, while Phillip Zens pitched 5-plus strong innings in the second contest.

“Really proud of the effort from our guys today,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler. “It started on the mound with Backous and Zens attacking hitters and filling up the strike zone, and we played pretty solid defense behind them.”

The pitchers had plenty of run support as the Smittys pounded out 21 hits on the day – five for extra bases – and scored 23 runs.

“Offensively, lots of different guys contributing all day long and coming through with some clutch hits,” Kusler said. “In game two especially, our two-out hitting was very solid.”

The Smittys set the tone for the day in their first at-bat in game one as Drew Salfrank doubled before Casey Vining hit a two-run home run over the left field fence.

Aberdeen added four more runs in the fourth inning on just one hit, and two more runs in the sixth. Huron committed three errors, two of which directly led to four runs.

The Smittys scored four runs in the third inning of the second contest as Vining drove in one with a single, before Jaiden Smith knocked in three with a bases-loaded double.

Cooper Eisenbeisz had a two-run single and eventually stole home in a five-run fifth frame. Salfrank also drove in a run with a single.

The Smittys tacked on six more runs in the sixth when Brendan Livermont clocked a grand slam home run to left, and Jackson Welke later plated the final two runs on a single.

“Casey had the big home run in the first inning of game one to jump out to an early lead,” Kusler said. “Anytime you can score first, that sets you up for success for the rest of the game. We did that in both games and never looked back.”

Vining had two hits, drove in three and scored three times in the opener.

Salfrank finished with four hits in the second game. Livermont had four RBI, while Smith drove in three. Smith also scored three times.

Aberdeen had lost to Huron 7-4 earlier this season.

The Smittys take a few days off before returning to action on Wednesday in a road doubleheader against Renner.

Aberdeen Smittys 200 402 0 – 8 8 0

Huron 010 001 1 – 3 10 3

Zane Backous, Casey Vining (7) and Andrew Woehl; Bubba Peterson, Jack Pederson (5) and Tanner Gilbert. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Drew Salfrank, Phillip Zens. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Vining.

Aberdeen Smittys 004 056 – 15 13 1

Huron 001 000 – 1 6 2

Phillip Zens, Cooper Eisenbeisz (6) and Andrew Woehl; Layne Wenzel, Tanner Gilbert (5), B. Feenstra (6) and Bubba Peterson. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Jaiden Smith; Huron, Wenzel, Trace Wenz. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Brendan Livermont.