The Aberdeen Smittys played from behind all night, and are now faced with an uphill battle in their region series against Brandon Valley.

The Lynx scored three early runs, rode the standout pitching of Aiden Zerr, and grabbed a 5-2 American Legion baseball win at Fossum Field in the opening game of their best two-of-three series.

“We’ve just got to do a better job throughout the lineup of putting the ball in play,” said Smittys coach Nathan Gonnelly.

Zerr, whose grandparents live in Aberdeen, did his best to make sure the Smittys weren’t able to put the ball in play, striking out nine batters while giving up just three hits before leaving with two outs in the seventh.

“I really just trusted all my stuff today,” Zerr said. “Fastball was there and it felt really firm, very hard, and I just trust my coach’s calling, too.”

One of the few hits Zerr gave up came to Cooper Eisenbeisz, who roped double over the leftfielder’s head plating Donnie Soderlund with Aberdeen’s first run in the process.

Eisenbeisz thought he might have hit a home run when the ball left his bat.

“It sounded like that from the crowd’s reaction, actually,” Eisenbeisz said, “so I thought that, too.”

After striking out in his first two at-bats against Zerr, Eisenbeisz said he needed to restore his confidence at the plate.

“Actually I just went out in the outfield and I didn’t warm up, and I just really calmed myself down,” Eisenbeisz said. “I was like, hey you need to have the confidence to go up and have an at-bat when you’re up there, because the first two at-bats I think I got sat down on seven total pitches.”

Not that Eisenbeisz was alone. Zerr was able to keep the majority of the Aberdeen lineup off stride most of the contest.

“He is committed to Notre Dame, so that does speak for itself. … The 90-plus mile an hour fastball, especially when you only see it twice before this, it catches you off guard,” Eisenbeisz said, “and you’ve got guys not on time and he’s got a slider that sneaks up on you.”

The fact that Brandon Valley scored three times in the third inning was big, because it not only put the Smittys in a hole, it gave Zerr an extra jolt of confidence to pitch with a lead.

“It’s a really big confidence booster for the whole team. …. When you go out there and pitch,” Zerr said, “I know that everybody’s got my back, when you get the lead right away.”

A strong south wind also played a key role in the contest as most fly balls were routine outs. The Smittys ended up with six fly ball outs in the game.

Gonnelly that today’s temperature calls for even hotter weather, along with strong wind.

“We did it today, but we’ll do it even more (Friday), is when we’re hitting on the field, hit that ball on the ground,” Gonnelly said, “because when you hit it up in the air, those are automatic outs in this wind, so we’ve got to do a better job of that.”

The Smittys also would like to clean up a few things in the field. In the series opener they had a couple of errors that led to two unearned runs and also had a baserunner picked off first base.

“It’s all about the little things in baseball, making a throw, making a play, don’t get back-picked on first,” Eisenbeisz said. “It’s all about those little choppy things. They add up and next thing you know, you’re down 5-1 in a very winnable game.”

Aberdeen scored a run in the bottom of the seventh when Drew Salfrank plated Lance Siefken, who had doubled to lead off the inning. However, the Smittys only had one other runner get past second base in the contest.

Chase Leary finished with three hits to lead Brandon Valley. Ryland Carroll and Bryton Stroh each drove in two runs.

The series resumes at noon today. If the Smittys force a third game, that would be played immediately following.

Gonnelly knows the task that lies ahead.

“We have to play like there is no tomorrow, because there very well could not be,” Gonnelly said. “These are some of the last times some of these guys are going to put on the jersey, so hopefully they come out here with that attitude, with that mindset, and just play the game hard.”

Brandon Valley 003 021 0 – 6 8 2

Aberdeen Smittys 000 010 1 – 2 4 2

Aiden Zerr, Ryland Carroll (7) and Jackson Adams; Jackson Welke, Donnie Soderlund (5) and Talan Dutenhoeffer. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Cooper Eisenbeisz, Lance Siefken.