HENDERSON, Minn. — The Hays Monarchs Sr. American Legion scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and beat the Rancho (Nev.) Post 8 Rams 7-2 in their opener Thursday morning at the American Legion Central Plains Regional in Henderson.

Jared Vitztum opened the big inning with a double and scored the go-ahead run on Justin Pfeifer’s RBI double. Braiden Werth followed with a two-run double, then Jordan Gottschalk hit a two-run homer.

Kameron Schmidt went the distance for the win, allowing two runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Vitztum led the Monarchs 13-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Gottschalk, Ryan Schippers and Ryan Ruder all had two hits.

The Monarchs have now won six straight and 13 of their last 14 to improve to 28-7 on the season. They can secure a spot in Friday’s bracket play with a win in their final pool play game against the Moose Lake (Minn.) Outlaws, which is scheduled for 1:30 Thursday afternoon.

You can hear the game on KFIX (96.9-FM) or by clicking on the following link. Listen live

The game also will be streamed live on HaysPost.com.