YANKTON – The Aberdeen Smittys came up short to begin their southern road trip.

The Smittys lost a pair of games to Yankton Post 12 in an American Legion baseball doubleheader on Wednesday. Yankton won the first game 3-2 in 10 innings and secured a 10-6 win in the second contest.

Yankton jumped in front in the opener by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. The Smittys responded with a one in the fourth inning when Jaiden Smith blasted a solo home run to left, and then tied the game in the top of the seventh on Ethan Kjenstad’s RBI single.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th inning, when Yankton walked it off on a sacrifice fly by Rugby Ryken.

“We had several opportunities in extras to jump out front, but we just failed to capitalize,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler.

The Smittys, who received hits from six different players, allowed just four hits in the setback.

Smith, Zane Backous and Drew Salfrank combined to strike out eight batters.

“I thought all three guys that threw for us did a really good job and kept us in the game,” Kusler said.

In Game 2, Yankton came out swinging, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning to set the tone. However, Aberdeen answered with six runs in the top of the fourth frame to tie the score.

The Smittys had seven hits in a row to start the uprising.

Backous drove in the first run on a single, before Kjenstad delivered a two-run double. Cooper Eisenbeisz followed with an RBI single, another run scored on a fielder’s choice, and Phillip Zens capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

“I’m really proud of the way we responded to getting punched in the mouth in the first inning,” Kusler said. “Then we battle back and tied the game up with a big inning offensively. That’s tough to do, especially when we lose a heartbreaker in game one.”

However, Yankton answered right back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to regain control.

“Our guys just kept battling, but just couldn’t manufacture anything beyond our big inning,” Kusler said. “And credit to Yankton for responding to us coming back. They played good baseball all day.”

Kjenstad led the Smittys with two hits and two RBI.

The Smittys continue their road trip today as they travel to Sioux Falls to face Sioux Falls West in a doubleheader, with first pitches scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Kusler was proud of the way his team fought against Yankton and is excited for today’s games.

“Really proud of the way our guys competed today. Did a lot of things well offensively and on the mound, just couldn’t come out on top unfortunately,” Kusler said. “I’m excited to see how we respond (Thursday) against Sioux Falls West after dropping a couple close ones today.”

Aberdeen Smittys 000 100 100 0 – 2 6 0

Yankton 020 000 000 1 – 3 4 0

Jaiden Smith, Zane Backous (5), Drew Salfrank (8) and Andrew Woehl; Drew Ryken, Kathol (8) and J. McCorkell. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Phillip Zens; Yankton, Lucas Kampshoff, Isaiah Schelhaas. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Smith.

Aberdeen Smittys 000 600 0 – 6 9 4

Yankton 600 400 x – 10 10 1

Drew Salfrank, Phillip Zens (2) Jackson Welke (4) and Andrew Woehl; Lucas Kampshoff, Kathol (4), Isaiah Schelhaas (5) and J. McCorkell. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Kjenstad; Yankton, Matthew Sheldon.