The scene that unfolded after 320′s game Saturday night game said it all.

The Post 320 Stars shuffled out of the dugout to help clean the field and load up gear following their loss to the Aberdeen Smitty’s looking as dejected as I’ve seen them this year.

But after having such a golden opportunity to avenge three straight losses to the Smitty’s clumsily slip through their fingers in the last inning, their reaction was typical for young athletes.

Head coach Jim Brandt was hoping this game would show the Stars making a big step in improvement. They had split Saturday’s games with Williston, N.D. and Canon City, C.O., but they only fell to Canon City by a run. Brandt told me this game would be the big test to see where they were at. After Sunday, I’m still not sure that question was answered.

The Stars had a 9-4 lead heading into the seventh and only needed three outs to ice it. Starting pitcher John Johnson was looking for a complete game but found trouble immediately.

Brenden Hoellein doubled over Danny Bareis’ head in right after Johnson hit the first batter, and Jon Heintzman smacked a two-run single to slice the lead to three.

Johnson seemed to restore some order by getting the next two batters out before Lucas Lorenz’ shot into the hole that looked like it could have been the game-ender. Stars shortstop Bryce Mitzel made a nice backhanded stop and throw, but the umpire ruled the runner safe at second, much to the displeasure of the Stars faithful.

The next batter also hit what appeared to be another finishing play, but third baseman Hunter LaCroix booted the difficult grounder to his left and loaded the bases. That made way for Riley Swenson, who blasted a bases-clearing double into right-center that capped off the five-run comeback for the Smitty’s.

“When you’re sitting there with three outs to go, and you’re leading 9-4 and the ball’s hit to my right fielder, who’s pretty steady … I don’t know what happened out there,” Brandt said. “Our third baseman has done a nice job and had fits tonight defensively. It wasn’t one particular play, but three or four that we didn’t make. And that’s where you get killed. You don’t lose many games at the plate.”

After a crippling double play in the bottom half thwarted any momentum for the Stars, the Smitty’s took their first lead since it was 3-1 in the third inning. Heintzman lofted one into right field that Bareis couldn’t track, putting runners on first and third with one out in the eighth. Dalton Cox proceeded to hit the game-winning sacrifice fly to left field when Kyle Gorsuch’s cannon from left just barely missed the runner at home.

That was all the Smitty’s needed as Post 320 grounded out all three times in the bottom half to complete the stunning end to the game.

“Boy, when you lose a lead like that late in the game, it’s not good,” Brandt said. “We’ve been in every game with them. I thought with them traveling here and staying overnight, day after day, we could get the win. It sure looked like that for awhile.”

Indeed, early on it appeared the Stars were going to make their three previous losses to the Smitty’s a long-forgotten memory.

Trailing 3-1, a four-run third put them up 5-3, and they made their big push in the fifth. Up 5-4 at this point, a Corey Weidmann RBI triple capped another four-run inning as Post 320 went up 9-4.

Adam Carroll and Tanner Feterl both led 320 with two RBIs. LaCroix went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, and Bareis and Feterl both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Stars finish the Black Hills Classic tonight at 8 p.m. against Chadron, Neb.