The Aberdeen Smittys won a pair of games in completely opposite ways Sunday afternoon at Fossum Field. The Smittys rolled to an 18-3 victory in the opening game before grabbing a 10-9 walk-off win in eight innings to sweep Pierre in American Legion baseball action.

Drew Salfrank connected for a two-out bases-loaded single down third-base line to drive in the game-winning run.

“Every at-bat I always go into it thinking fastball,” Salfrank said of his mindset at the plate. “If I see a fastball first pitch, I’m going to swing and hit it, because it’s the easiest pitch to hit.”

The Smittys set up the inning in textbook fashion. Ethan Kjenstad singled up the middle to start the frame, Andrew Woehl bunted him into scoring position, a walk and an infield hit loaded the bases and after an out, Salfrank came through in the clutch.

“That was big time by Ethan, getting the lead-off guy on. That’s the most important thing there in extras,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler. “If you can get a lead-off guy on, you’ve got a pretty good chance. Then Woehl doing a job of getting him over. That was obviously huge, and then Drew coming up with the big hit.”

The walk-off win was a welcome site for the Smittys, who have lost multiple close games so far this season.

“We’ve been in a couple of other extra-inning games so far this year and we’ve been on the losing end of those,” Kusler said, “so definitely feels good to get an extra-innings win.”

The Smittys owned a 4-1 lead, thanks in part to a home run from Phillip Zens, before Pierre rallied for five runs in the top of the fifth inning. However, Aberdeen responded with a pair of runs to tie the score at 6-6 in the bottom half of the frame on Salfrank’s two-run single.

Aberdeen then regained the lead with three runs in the sixth, two coming in on a triple by Zane Backous, who then scored on a wild pitch. It was then Pierre’s turn to rally, plating three runs in the top of the seventh, the last run scoring when Pierre was down to its final out, setting the stage for the eighth inning.

Kusler was pleased with the way his players responded after giving up a lead.

“That’s what this group has been doing here these last couple of weeks,” Kusler said. “We’re down at times, but we’re never out of it, and nobody is hitting the panic button there when they take the lead.”

Earlier in the week, the Smittys overcame a six-run deficit in a contest.

Salfrank said the squad has confidence in its ability to comeback.

“I feel like we’re always kind of like that,” Salfrank said of the team’s resiliency. “We have faith in our at-bats and stuff, to always come back no matter how much we’re down.”

Salfrank had a big day at the plate in the sweep. He finished with four hits, knocked in three and scored five times.

He said he tries to set the tone from his lead-off spot in the lineup.

“The biggest thing is just get on base,” Salfrank said. “It seems like when I get on base first, everyone else goes along with it.”

The Smittys had no trouble scoring in the first game, putting up five runs in the first, six in the third and seven more in the fourth. Pierre contributed to that total, walking 13 batters and hitting three others. The visitors also had three errors.

“We found a lot of different ways to score some runs in that game, and took advantage of a few of their mistakes as well,” Kusler said. “They’re a good team and they can swing it.”

Casey Vining drove in four runs in that contest and Backous plated three. Both had two-run singles in the opening inning.

Pierre ended up outhitting the Smittys on the day, but in the end could overcome surrendering 23 walks and hitting eight batters.

Aberdeen improved to 10-5 on the season and 5-5 in league play with the two victories, something that may pay dividends before the season is over.

“It’s a really big win,” Kusler said of the extra-inning victory. “When you look back on it at the end of the year, man, I’m glad we got that one.”

The Smittys face Rapid City Post 22 and Brookings on Wednesday in Brookings.

Aberdeen will take a four-game winning streak into that action following the sweep of Pierre.

“These are two big wins for us,” Kusler said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum right now. We’re playing pretty good baseball.”

Pierre 012 00 – 3 5 3

Aberdeen Smittys 506 7x – 18 5 2

JJ Bucholz, Johnny Lyons (3), Matthew Coverdale (3), Conner Bruce (4) and Nolan Peterson; Jaiden Smith and Andrew Ristau-Richardson. 3B – Pierre, George Stalley, Carter Sanderson.

Pierre 001 050 30 – 9 12 0

Aberdeen Smittys 121 023 01 – 10 8 2

Jett Zabel , Spencer Easland (5), Matt Hanson (5), Johnny Lyons (7) and Nolan Peterson; Zane Backous, Drew Salfrank (6) and Andrew Woehl. 2B – Pierre, Lyons 2, Hanson. 3B – Pierre, Ridge Limbach, Easland; Aberdeen Smittys, Backous. HR – Aberdeen Smittys, Phillip Zens.