After battling to even terms for nearly two hours in grueling heat and strong wind, the Aberdeen Smittys had their season come to a heartbreaking halt on Friday afternoon at Fossum Field.

Brandon Valley walked off the Smittys with a run in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory and a sweep of their American Legion baseball Class A region series.

“We went to nine innings. We played a great game today, and it just comes down to a couple key things, timely hitting, things of that nature,” said Smittys coach Nathan Gonnelly. “I commend our guys for doing the absolute best that they could. They had a phenomenal season.”

Brandon Valley was able to come up with timely hits in both games, which helped propel the Lynx to next week’s State A Tournament in Brookings.

“I think that’s the main reason why we lost, because Brandon Valley is really good at manufacturing runs,” said Aberdeen centerfielder Drew Salfrank. “We saw it when we were in Brandon. Every time they had a guy on, they found a way to score him, even if it was one or two runs an inning, they still found a way.”

It was Brayden Knutson that ended up delivering the pivotal blow with a one-out single to left center that brought in teammate Nolan Pudwill from second base.

Knutson fell behind 0-2 in the count before producing the walk-off winner.

“First pitch, I watched it down the middle, I was questioning that, and then I swung at one above my eyes, so that wasn’t very good,” Knutson said, “but I stayed confident and just put my bat on it and put it in the gap.”

Knutson wasn’t even sure it was going to be a hit, because Salfrank can cover a lot of ground in the outfield.

“That kid was running everything down in center. He was really good for them,” Knutson said. “I didn’t know it was down until a couple of steps away from first base.”

After the Lynx had taken a 1-0 lead, Aberdeen scored it’s only runs in the top of the third inning when Zane Backous ripped a double just inside the right-field line to plate Salfrank and Cooper Eisenbeisz. It was one of three hits on the day for Backous.

However, it was all the runs that Aberdeen could muster, while the Lynx tied the game in the fourth on just one hit, a RBI double by Grady Gindroff, after scoring a run on just an infield hit in the second.

“They’re a good ball club,” Backous said. “They play baseball very soundly and they don’t make many mistakes, and they know how to play small ball really well.”

And as fate would have it, the Lynx earned home-field designation after Thursday’s victory and ended up walking off the Smittys on their home field.

“That’s just what happens when you win game one,” Gonnelly said. “You kind of get that advantage in game two.”

And whether it was the persistent wind blowing in from right field or the solid efforts of the Brandon Valley pitchers, Aberdeen was never able to get on track offensively, managing just four runs in the two postseason games after scoring 10 or more runs in 23 games this season.

“Brandon’s got a lot of good arms. It’s just baseball sometimes,” Salfrank said. “You get hot, and then other guys just get cold. I think when we were scoring all those runs, all of us were hot at the same time. Unfortunately, when it really matters, we all kind of cooled down a little bit.”

After Aiden Zerr held Aberdeen in check on Thursday, Ryland Carroll had strong outing on Friday, striking out six batters in five innings before Carter LaBrie threw four scoreless innings in relief.

“We’ve got a Notre Dame commit, Zerr, he’s been doing that all year for us,” Knutson said. “Ryland has been arguably our best pitcher for his last three years of starts. He had 15Ks his last start. He’s been doing really, really good.”

Still, it all came down to timely hitting in the end. The Smittys stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings.

“That’s all it comes down to. That’s how baseball is,” Backous said. “The higher you go up, the better pitching is going to get, and as timely of hits as you can get.”

The contest marked the final game in a Smittys uniform for Salfrank, who reflected on his days with his teammates.

“Honestly, it’s not even about baseball,” Salfrank said. “It’s just hanging out with them, bus rides, hotel rooms. Made some really good friends playing ball here.”

While Aberdeen will lose some quality players, the cupboard is far from bare, according to Gonnelly.

“We have some good guys returning. We have some seniors coming back. We have a young crew in the Junior Legion level who have done phenomenal,” Gonnelly said. “So we’re going to come back bigger and stronger next year.”

And while this season came to a frustrating close on Friday, Gonnelly said it helps prepare the stage for the future.

“This just sets the bar for next year, too,” he said.

The Smittys finished the season with a 31-20 record.

Aberdeen Smittys 002 000 000 – 2 8 0

Brandon Valley 010 100 001 – 3 6 0

Zane Backous, Joran Foss (6) and Talan Dutenhoeffer; Ryland Carroll, Carter LaBrie (6) and Mason Veld. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Jackson Welke, Backous; Brandon Valley, Brayden Knutson, Grady Gindroff.