Postseason games require a short memory of the regular season and a focus on what lies ahead, and the Badlands Big Sticks showed that mentality in game one of the divisional playoffs against the Spearfish Sasquatch.

After losing the last four of five games to Spearfish to end the regular season, the Big Sticks fired on all cylinders in a gutsy 7-4 victory over the Sasquatch to take a 1-0 playoff series lead on Sunday night.

The Sasquatch ended the regular season with a 28-28 record after beginning summer play 5-16. An impressive second half landed them in the postseason against Badlands, but they struggled mightily offensively in front of their fans in their only matchup at home to begin the series.

The Spearfish offense displayed a collective struggle that had not been seen very often since the early days of the season, tallying only four runs on four hits with three errors.

Right fielder Trey Vorwald led the way for Spearfish at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs to account for half of the team’s hits on the night.

On the mound, JD Kirchner only went four innings of two-run ball, surrendering two hits and walking five Badlands hitters. Kirchner was replaced in the top of the fifth by relief pitcher Wyatt Adams, who finished the final five innings of game one, allowing four earned runs through his appearance.

Tied 1-1 heading into the fourth inning, the Big Sticks added a run in the fifth to take the lead, followed by two runs in each the fifth and sixth innings and a run in the seventh.

With bases loaded in the sixth inning and down by four, Vorwald lifted a ball into right field that eventually dropped for a two-run single, pushing the Big Sticks lead to 6-4. The two-run deficit was the closest that the Sasquatch got to the lead for the remainder of the game.

The Big Sticks added seven runs on nine hits with an error of their own, and their offense showed some power that was not seen in the five-game series to close the regular season. Left fielder Austin Bunn hit a monstrous home run to left field to expand the Badlands lead to five in the top of the sixth inning.

While the Sasquatch struggled offensively, the Big Sticks impressed on the mound, with each of their four pitchers recording over an inning of work each. After starting pitcher Steve Marhefke left the game with an apparent injury in the third inning, relievers Braxton Greenburg, Logan Fragomeni, and Daniel Rivera handled the Sasquatch offense for the rest of the night.

With the postseason resetting team records, the Sasquatch fall to 0-1 in the series and travel to Dickinson, North Dakota for game two on Monday night. In a best-of-three series, Spearfish needs to force a third game in order to avoid playoff elimination.