In a game where hits were difficult to come by, it was some hit batters that eventually proved to be the difference at Fossum Field on Monday afternoon.

Groton took advantage of four batters hit by pitch to score three runs in the top of the 11th inning en route to a 5-3 victory over the Aberdeen Smittys in American Legion baseball action.

The teams combined for just 13 hits and there was only one extra-base hit in the contest.

“It just kind of took us a little while to get back in the groove a little bit with the long weekend from the Fourth,” said Smittys coach Nathan Gonnelly. “Our bats were a little bit slow and we gave the other team a lot of free bases. We walked a couple of guys, that didn’t help, and then they put the ball in play and there’s a couple of runs here and there.”

Gavin Englund threw a strong nine innings before giving way to Dillon Abeln for the final two frames as the hurlers combined to contain a potent Smittys lineup.

“I felt like we left a lot of guys on base today. It could have been different early on, but we knew we were getting on. We had a chance to score. It was just about putting it together,” said Groton coach Seth Erickson. “Guys did a really good job of keeping their composure, made a lot of good defensive plays. Gavin threw good strikes, Dillon came in, threw very well for us and helped us shut it down.”

Both sides likely could have scored much more than they did if not the defensive plays out in the field.

Groton shortstop Brevin Fliehs made several diving stops, one that clearly prevented a run from scoring.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen centerfield Drew Salfrank did his part to keep the Smittys in the game. He made one diving catch moving forward, and then snared a fly ball over his head later in the contest.

Salfrank said the deep fly ball was a bit of a concern.

“I was worried for a second, but I got there,” Salfrank said.

He said it’s much more difficult to go back on a ball than come in.

“Definitely going out, especially when it’s hit directly at you, because you’ve got to flip your hips a certain way and then the ball moves,” Salfrank said. “Those are the most difficult ones.”

When asked when he knew he had the one that was hit over his head, Salfrank responded, “I never did. I just kind of reached my glove out there and it was there.”

Groton scored single runs in the first two innings to play with a lead for most of the game. Colby Dunker plated one with a single and another scored on an error.

From there, Englund was able to keep his squad in front.

“Just had to change things up a lot,” Englund said of keeping the Smittys off stride. “Couldn’t really throw the same thing the entire time. You’ve got to change things.”

While Englund did not rack up a lot of strikeouts, his teammates made plays behind him.

“Just kind of let the defense makes plays, too,” Englund said.

While Englund was not on the mound when the game finished, he certainly had his fingerprints all over the win.

“He pitched a heckuva game over there,” Gonnelly said. “They just played solid defense.”

Aberdeen broke through with a run in the sixth inning when Casey Vining doubled in Cooper Eisenbeisz. The Smittys tied the game in the eighth when Philip Zens brought in Salfrank with an RBI single.

It appeared that Salfrank might be able to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, but he was unable to advance home from third base on a fly ball to left because of strong throw to the plate by Dunker.

Groton, which had seven hit batters in all, surged back in front in the 11th, scoring three times on just one hit thanks to four hit batters, plus a bases-loaded walk. The Smittys scored once in the bottom half of the frame and had two runners in scoring position before a fly out ended the contest.

The win was a big one for Groton, which lost twice by double-digits in a doubleheader earlier this season.

“We’ve always said you get into July, and that’s basically playoff baseball for us, so every game matters right now in July,” Erickson said. “We want to be playing our best right now with regions coming up in a couple of weeks. This is a good start for us.”

The Smittys have a twinbill at Huron today before heading to Minnesota this weekend for the Gopher Classic.

“It should be fun,” Salfrank said of the multi-day event. “It’s always fun when you get to travel with your buddies, hang out in hotel rooms, and play baseball.”

Groton 110 000 000 03 – 5 7 2

Aberdeen Smittys 000 001 010 01 – 3 6 1

Gavin Englund, Dillon Abeln (10) and Karsten Fliehs; Lance Siefken, Jaxon Ladner (3), Jared Klootwyk (6), Charlie Phillips (11) and Talan Dutenhoeffer. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Casey Vining.