BRANDON – The Aberdeen Smittys had their winning streak snapped and their season end on Thursday afternoon.

Heading into the postseason with five straight victories, the Smittys were unable to come up with the key hit when they needed it, getting swept by Brandon Valley 5-4, and 4-1 in the Class A baseball playoffs.

It marked the third loss of the season against Brandon Valley, each time in hard-fought contests.

“It’s always fun to be in that playoff baseball mindset. A couple things didn’t really go our way this weekend,” said Smittys coach Nathan Gonnelly. “When you don’t put it all together when you play a competitive team like Brandon Valley, you gotta play a complete game and we just couldn’t do that this time around.”

The Smittys started out the day strong, scoring two runs in the top of the first frame of the opening game, thanks to a two-out double from Grant Beyer that plated Karson Borge and Jeheil Aviles.

“That was massive. I mean playoff baseball, you can just feel the electricity,” said Gonnelly. “Scoring two right away, that got our juices flowing a little bit.”

However, the lead didn’t last long as Brandon Valley tied it up in the bottom half of the inning. The hosts went on to score two runs in the third inning and one more in the fifth for a 5-1 lead going into the sixth.

Aberdeen mounted a comeback as Beyer led off the inning with a single and was brought in two batters later by Joe Cogley, who hit a sac fly to left field. With two outs, Karson Borge knocked in Levi Hoffman to make it a one-run game.

“We had one of our aces on the mound with Bennett (Eisenbeisz), so we know he’s gonna go out and do his job. We kept it within reach,” Gonnelly said. “Had that momentum and it was a good feeling. The emotions run high in playoff baseball.”

However, that momentum came to a halt as Brandon Valley struck out the side in the seventh to close out game one.

Brandon Valley started the scoring in the second game with a run in the top of the first. Timely hits for fourth-seeded team throughout the game accounted for single runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings.

“Those singles that turn into doubles, just well-timed hits with runners in scoring position,” Gonnelly said. “They executed that stuff really nicely and were consistent throughout the board.”

Brayden Knutson started on the bump for Brandon Valley and caused problems for the Smittys throughout the game.

“Their pitcher, I think we only got two hits off the guy. Their pitcher shoved,” Gonnelly said. “We just couldn’t really get those runs to score. I think we scored our first run in the sixth inning.”

That lone run came with the help of Jeheil Aviles, who was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sac bunt, stole third, and crossed the plate on an error.

The Smittys were able to muster just two hits in game two, one from Lance Siefken, and another from Borge. As an underclassman, lead-off hitter Borge went 4-for-7 in the two games, scoring one run and driving in another.

“Every time he stepped up to the plate, you just felt like he’s just gonna get on base whether that’s up the middle, opposite field, pull side,” Gonnelly said of Borge. “You just felt confident with him. Having those young guys like him step up in those positions is really nice, especially for the future of the program.”

While the season came to a quicker end than what the Smittys wanted, Gonnelly is already excited about the future as this year’s squad loses just four seniors and two super seniors, and Aberdeen has young players waiting for their chances.

“Very optimistic. Yeah, we’re super pumped up, because we know those guys who are gonna come up next year, they’re gamers,” Gonnelly said. “They have all the potential in the world. A good group of guys. They’ve been coached well and we’re super excited to see how they kind of develop in the next year or two.”

The Smittys finished with a 12-26 record, going 10-7 in their final 17 games.

While season had some rough patches, Aberdeen saved it best baseball for the end.

“It feels good, and I think it feels better for the players too to kind of recognize, hey, in the beginning of the season, we’re cold right now. Things just aren’t going our way,” Gonnelly said. “Trusting the process and trusting what we do at practice and what they do with the work they put in on their own time. How all that stuff kind of comes together … It’s just one of those good learning moments for our guys to see the hard work pays off.”

Aberdeen Smittys 200 002 0 – 4 7 2

Brandon Valley 202 010 x – 5 8 1

Bennett Eisenbeisz and Levi Hoffman; Caleb Severin, Mason Veld (6), Ryland Carroll (6) and Christopher Joseph. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Grant Beyer; Brandon Valley, Bryton Stroh, Brayden Knutson.

Brandon Valley 101 001 1 – 4 6 4

Aberdeen Smittys 000 001 0 – 1 2 4

Brayden Knutson and Mason Veld; Michael Dutenhoffer, Jaxon Ladner (7) and Levi Hoffman. 2B – Brandon Valley, Knutson.