MITCHELL – A pair of things that plagued the Aberdeen Smittys most of the season played a role in their season-ending setback on Saturday.

The Smittys fell behind early (giving up seven runs in the first two innings) and struggled in the field (committing four errors) on the way to a 10-2 loss to Mitchell in the American Legion baseball playoffs. Mitchell swept the best of three series 2-0.

Aberdeen managed just two hits in the contest and scored both of its runs in the bottom of the first inning on back-to-back bases loaded walks by Nick Clemens and Andrew Richardson.

“Unfortunately, our bats just went quiet today when we needed them the most,” said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler. “Just from looking at the box score and seeing that we walked 10 times, you would think that we would’ve been able to scratch a few more runs across than we did, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”

Aberdeen also gave up three wild pitches which also put pressure on the defense, and Mitchell took advantage of its opportunities.

“Mitchell is a great all-around team and they definitely swung it better today than (Friday) and capitalized on our mistakes,” Kusler said. “Early on, I was proud of the way we responded to giving up two in the first inning, but then the wheels just gradually fell off as the game went on. We didn’t make the plays defensively when we needed to, and we definitely didn’t do enough offensively to give us a chance to win.”

As a result, Mitchell was able to punch its ticket to this week’s State A Tournament in Rapid City.

The Smittys concluded their season with a 22-23 overall record in Kusler’s first year at the helm.

“I’m very proud of the way all our guys battled this year and the effort they put forth. I love going to work with these young men every day and finding ways to make them better baseball players,” Kusler said. “We were a fairly young team this year, and I think those young guys getting a season of Legion experience is only going to help our team moving into next season.”

Mitchell 251 100 1 – 10 10 1

Aberdeen Smittys 200 000 0 – 2 2 4

Landon Waddell, Peyton Mandel (5), Dylan Soulek (7) and McGinnis; Drew Salfrank, Josh Steinwandt (2), Nick Clemens (6) and Andrew Richardson. 2B – Haley.