The Aberdeen Smittys got off to a big start on a big night of baseball Wednesday at Fossum Field.

The hosts exploded for nine runs in the first inning on the way to a 14-4 win over Redfield on senior night at Fossum Field.

Three seniors started the night off strong for the Smittys in the bottom of the first inning, all getting on base.

Jehiel Aviles led off the inning with a walk and Karson Borge sent him home with an RBI triple to put the Smittys on the board.

“Our approach coming into the game was to find a good strike and hit it hard,” Borge said. “Coming into this game at least in the first inning, we found strikes and put them in play hard. I think that’s the big reason why we put up a nine spot.”

Michael Dutenhoffer put another run on the board with an RBI single. After a sac fly to give Aberdeen a three-run lead, Bennett Eisenbiesz hit a two-run RBI triple and then scored on a single from Drake Soderlund.

Dutenhoffer added another single in the frame, this time driving in a pair of runs to cap the offensive outburst.

“Coming out there in the first inning and coming out with a nine spot felt pretty good,” Smittys coach Josh Steinwandt said. “It’s good to see the boys come out hot after the senior night ceremony, and it could get a little draggy with that. But the boys were ready to play, and I couldn’t be more proud of the seniors.”

Redfield got on the board in the top of the third inning.

Aiden Frankenstein produced an RBI single to ignite the offense, which put up three runs to help close the deficit.

“It’s absolutely huge,” Frankenstein said of gaining some momentum. “I know it gets the guys in the dugout riled up; it gets me fired up. Just try and carry that momentum to the next inning.”

Redfield added another run in the top of the fourth on Jett Kleinsasser’s RBI single to inch closer.

However, the Smittys ended that momentum and ended the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the 10-run rule.

Aviles walked to start the surge, and then proceeded to steal second, third and home to extend the lead.

​Dutenhoffer followed that up with another RBI to push the lead to 11-4. Joe Cogley eventually ended the contest when he scored on a wild pitch.

“That’ll win you a lot of games when you put up 14 runs,” Steinwandt said. “We hit the ball when we needed to and we pitched the ball well. We were a little low in numbers on pitching today and I was glad to see that our pitchers went up there and they didn’t give any free passes away or anything like that. It was good to see that.”

Dutenhoffer received the Bryce Anglin award before the contest started.

With senior night being such a special event, Borge was thrilled to be able to get a win.

“It’s awesome,” Borge said. “This is one I wanted to win pretty bad. It’s awesome.”

On the other side, Frankenstein thinks Redfield has some places to improve.

“I think we just need to take a breath,” Frankenstein said. “Take a step back, calm down and be more relaxed and play smooth.”

The Smittys will cap their regular season with a doubleheader today against Spearfish starting at noon.

“Coming into (Thursday), I think we take that same approach we did in the first inning,” Borge said. “Find a good strike and hit it hard somewhere. Wait for a good one, then we just need to field the ball to the best of our ability.”

Redfield 000 310 – 4 6 1

Aberdeen Smittys 900 05 – 14 13 1

Jett Kleinsasser, Noah Johnson (1) and Tate Bray; Jackson Post, Drake Soderlund (2), JaSean Rivera (3) and Levi Hoffman. 2B – Redfield, Jackson Rude. 3B – Aberdeen Smittys, Benny Eisenbiesz, Karson Borge.