FARGO — Throughout the spring, Grand Rapids hitters seemed to struggle at the plate.

It wasn’t that the Thunderhawks weren’t good. They advanced to a fifth straight Class AAA tournament, but it was a fight all season.

The struggles continued into American Legion Baseball this summer, but it all started coming together at the district tournament in July.

“In the spring, we pitched well, played defense and won a lot of 1-0, 2-1 ballgames,” coach Bill Kinnunen said. “When we got to the last part of districts, we started swinging the bat a little bit, and it carried right through to the state tournament.”

Grand Rapids advanced to the American Legion Central Plains Regional after finishing runner-up in Minnesota’s Division I tournament. The bats quieted down in the regional, with Grand Rapi

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