Royals - 2026 Bridge City Classic Recap
VALLEY CITY - The Valley City Legion Post 60 Royals hosted the 2026 Bridge City Classic this weekend at Charlie Brown Memorial Field, finishing 1-2 and placing fourth overall.
Valley City opened the tournament with its most impressive performance of the weekend, rallying from a six-run deficit to defeat Oakes Post 36, 10-8.
The Royals found themselves trailing 8-2 entering the bottom of the fifth inning before mounting a dramatic comeback. Valley City chipped away with three runs in the fifth and then erupted for five more runs in the sixth to take its first lead of the game.
Trevor Fetsch, Corbyn Powell, Jack Samuelson, Parker Roelfsema, Leighton Hendrickson and Luke Praska all delivered key hits during the comeback effort. Samuelson drove in Valley City's first run of the game with an RBI double in the opening inning and later added another hit, while Praska delivered a clutch two-run single during the decisive sixth inning.
After the offense stormed back, Corbyn Powell closed the door on the mound in the seventh inning. The Royals ended the game with a double play to secure the victory and advance to Saturday's semifinal matchup.
Saturday proved to be a tougher challenge as the Royals fell to the Jamestown Eagles, 13-1.
Jamestown capitalized on early walks and timely hitting to build a 3-0 first-inning lead. Valley City answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jack Samuelson launched a solo home run over the left-field fence, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
The Eagles continued to apply pressure throughout the game, extending the lead with four runs in the third inning and five more in the fifth. Despite collecting hits from Samuelson, Andrew Sykora and Bryson Heck, the Royals were unable to generate additional offense as Jamestown advanced to the championship game.
In Sunday's third-place contest, Valley City squared off against Grafton Post 41.
The Royals struck first when Corbyn Powell scored in the opening inning to give Valley City an early 1-0 lead. Cole Bullinger and Brody Mueller combined to keep Grafton off the board through the first three innings before Grafton broke through in the fourth and added three more runs in the fifth to take control.
Valley City continued battling until the final out. Leighton Hendrickson singled to open the seventh inning and Bryson Heck followed with a double. Trevor Fetsch then drove home Hendrickson with a groundout for the Royals' final run of the weekend, but Grafton held on for the 6-2 victory.
While the Royals finished fourth in the tournament standings, the weekend featured an encouraging comeback victory over Oakes and valuable experience against strong Legion competition. With the summer season still in its early stages, Valley City will look to build on the resilience it showed throughout the Bridge City Classic.
Bridge City Classic Results
Friday
Valley City Royals 10, Oakes Post 36 8
Saturday
Jamestown Eagles 13, Valley City Royals 1
Sunday (3rd Place Game)
Grafton Post 41 6, Valley City Royals 2
Tournament Finish:
Royals - 4th Place (1-2 Record)
1st Place Jamestown Post 14
