They battled back, they battled the wind, and now the Aberdeen Smittys will get a chance to battle in the postseason of high school baseball.

The Smittys punched their ticket to the playoffs with an 8-5 and 9-6 sweep over Huron during a hot and blustery day at Fossum Field. With temps soaring into the 90s and winds sustained at 30 miles per hour and gusting to nearly 50 mph, nearly every fly ball was an adventure.

“I tell guys all the time, I’d rather play in rain than wind, because wind is such a game changer with baseball,” said Aberdeen coach Nathan Gonnelly. “If it’s blowing in from right-centerfield, everything that goes to right is just a dead ball, and then everything that goes to left is just a missile.”

While the Smittys still stranded plenty of runners on base (twice leaving the bases loaded) like they did on Saturday, this time Aberdeen came up with plenty of big hits.

“We got those timely hits today more than we did (Saturday),” Gonnelly said, “and we played well on defense and our pitching did well, so overall great performance by the boys.”

Some of those hits came in the bottom of the sixth inning of the opener. With the Smittys trailing 5-3, Grant Beyer tied the game with a two-run double, Michael Dutenhoffer stole home for a run, Jehiel Aviles produced an RBI double, and after a walk, Jaxon Ladner delivered a run-scoring single.

“I just go up there with the approach, gotta put the ball in play, runners in scoring position,” Ladner said. “A walk is good there, but you just gotta get runners across the plate. Jump on something, be aggressive. That’s pretty much all I was thinking.”

Aviles had three hits and drove in a pair in the first game. Beyer, Ladner, and Jared Klootwyk each finished with two hits.

Aviles was back at in the second game. While he managed just one hit, he was on base four times and scored three runs.

“That’s my mindset, find any way to get on base,” Aviles said. “When I get on base, that’s one of my favorite things about baseball, stealing, making the game fun for the fans, ourselves, our teammates.”

Aviles said the wind played a factor in the game both on offense and defense.

While the Smittys were up, he said the key was to play small.

“It’s a struggle. Just got to start playing small ball. Be smart,” Aviles said. “Keep the ball down, try to get bunts, steal early, just be aggressive, can’t be pop flies. It doesn’t work out here with this wind or anything.”

And while playing centerfield, Aviles had to judge where balls were going when hit to his position.

“I just trust my practice, my work that I put in,” Aviles said. “First step back like always and just read it from there.”

Ladner again provided a key hit in the second game, hitting a double to centerfield that produced two runs in the bottom of the fourth to help the Smittys open a five-run lead.

Again, Ladner said the key is to make contact.

“You can’t go down looking. Ball in play and good things happen,” Ladner said. “They had some errors, you just have to put the ball in play, good things happen. Big believer in that.”

Beyer, Ladner, and Joran Foss each had two hits in the victory.

As a result, the Smittys are headed to the playoffs where they will face an opponent to be determined on the road.

“We don’t know yet, but all I can say is they’re in the same boat,” Ladner said of Aberdeen’s first-round foe. “It’s win or go home. The rankings don’t matter anymore. It’s three games for the rest of the season.”

While the Smittys will be a lower seed and wear the underdog label, that’s just fine with them.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re playing at home, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing away. You’ve got three games and you’ve got to go up and win two of them,” Ladner said. “We fought with these top teams the whole season. Rankings just don’t matter now. Go out there and play your game of baseball, go take two and advance to state.”

When asked what it will take to have success in the postseason, Gonnelly put his finger on a variety of key elements.

“Just good pitching, we have to throw strikes, we’ve got to get the ball over the plate and timely hits,” Gonnelly said. “I think our defense is fine. Everybody is going to make a mistake or two, but just being aggressive on the bases, putting the ball in play, getting those timely hits, and having our pitchers go out there and deal.”

Huron 021 020 0 – 5 8 1

Aberdeen Smittys 120 005 x – 8 14 0

Jack Pederson, Logan Leyendecker (6) and Brady Feenstra; Joe Cogley, Jaxon Ladner (5) and Levi Hoffman. 2B – Huron, Tommie Martin; Aberdeen Smittys, Grant Beyer, Jehiel Aviles.

Huron 002 022 0 – 6 9 7

Aberdeen Smittys 103 401 x – 9 8 3

Bubba Peterson, Logan Leyendecker (5) and O. Anderson; Branson Peterson, Grant Beyer (4), Drake Soderlund (6), Brayden Bowman (6) and Levi Hoffman. 2B – Huron, Peterson; Aberdeen Smittys, Jaxon Ladner 2.