Above: With Carrie Palmer looking on, Jami Sjogren put the tag on the McGregor Mercuries’ runner. The Vikings played McGregor on April 7 at the Grand Marais Recreation Park in freezing conditions and beat McGregor by a score of 11-0. Upper right: Trace McQuatters pounded this pitch for a hit. Lower right: Mariah Deschampe gloves a low throw and steps on first base for the out.
If anyone wanted to know where the Polar League got its name, all they had to do was show up at the Cook County Viking girls’ home opener against the McGregor Mercuries on Tuesday, April 7.
With temps in the mid-30s and a strong wind coming off of the lake, the game was a test of toughness for all who played. And on this day the Vikings were clearly more conditioned to play in the cold than the Mercuries, winning by a score of 11 to 0 as the game ended in five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Alex Slanga took the mound for the Vikings and shut the Mercuries down with 10 strikeouts.
“Alex pitched a strong game for us,” said Assistant Coach Sara McAteer.
While the Vikings scored a lot of runs, not many came off of hits as the McGregor pitchers walked a lot of batters. McAteer said Maddy Roy had a ground rule double that would have gone for a triple if it hadn’t rolled under our fence. “She really hit the ball hard,” she said.
Because Slanga struck out most of the players, the Viking fielders got a break. Still, the Vikings’ infield with catcher Maddy Roy, Maranda Deschampe on third, Jami Sjogren at shortstop, Carrie Palmer on second, and Mariah Deschampe on first base played well when called upon.
The Vikings called up Hannah VanderHeiden to play right field. She played half of the game while Bethany Dersheid played right field for the last half of the game. Trace McQuatters played left field while Alyssa Spry played center field.
“This was a great way to start the year,” said McAteer. “I don’t really feel like the girls were challenged a lot. They [McGregor] had two new pitchers they used for the game, so they lacked experience. We took a lot of walks in the game. There weren’t a lot of good pitches to hit but several girls got RBIs because of singles.
“We have several girls who just returned from vacation that didn’t play in this game. They need a few practices to get back in the swing of the game and should see some action in the future. Right now we have two days to practice to get ready to play Two Harbors and Silver Bay.”
The Vikings’ next home game is on Tuesday April 14, against Floodwood. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
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