Right: Try as he might, the Albrook runner couldn’t elude the tag of Colin Everson. The Vikings have had to play a flurry of games in the past week to make up for games cancelled due to the cold, wet spring. The Vikings lost 3-4, but have shown flashes of good play and hopefully will be ready for the playoffs next week.
The Vikings made up their game against Esko May 11 and sent eighthgrade boy wonder Alex Murray to the mound. After two innings of play the Vikings were up 4-2, and Murray, who was pitching well, also blasted a double to deep right field, putting both benches in an absolute frenzy and amazement at the eighth-grader’s power.
By the time the bottom of the 7th inning rolled around the Vikings were down 9-5 and hoping for a rally. Dylan Quaife got a single and easily stole second and reached third on a wild pitch. The Vikings had a runner in scoring position. With one out, Ben Kroska drew a walk and got to second by stealing. With two outs and runners on second and third, senior Will Petty came to the plate and with a swing of the White Omaha, Petty blooped a single to right field driving in Quaife and Kroska. Now the score was 9-7 and excitement grew. The rally soon ended, however, when Michael Sjogren flew out to the right fielder to end the game.
On May 12, the Vikings traveled to Floodwood to battle a very young and talented Floodwood team. To counter the young team, the Vikings sent out Walter Johnson—I mean Danny Lunde—to throw the heater for the boys. With the Vikings scoring 2 in the top of the first and the Polar Bears getting one in the second, the score was 2-1 Vikings’ advantage entering the bottom of the fifth. After a couple of walks and a string of hits, the Polar Bears scored 3 in the fifth. The Vikings were not able to produce in the top of the sixth, so they entered the bottom of the sixth down 4-2. Once again the Vikings had trouble fielding and catching the ball, and the Polar Bears tacked on four more runs. Not able to produce again in the top of the 7th the Vikings lost 8-2.
Above: Ben Kroska blocked the plate, caught the ball and despite a violent collision, put the tag on the Two Harbors runner for an out.
After a weekend of prom activities, the Vikings had a home game against Cotton on May 16, and Sophomore Kale Boomer got the call to pitch. In the bottom of the third the score was 3-0 in the Vikings’ favor. With walks drawn by Dylan Quaife, Danny Lunde, Joe Borud, and Jake Plahuta, and hits delivered by Colin Everson, Michael Sjogren, Daniel Ditmanson and Ben Kroska, the Vikings exploded for 8 runs, all of which came with two outs. With Boomer having his best outing of the year, pitching 6 innings and striking out 9 batters, the Vikings won at home 13-6.
With no rest for the weary, the Vikings played Albrook the next day at home. Once again Lunde got the call to head to the mound for the Vikings. With the Falcons scoring most of their runs off errors in the first five innings and the Vikings getting little offense, the Vikings were down 9-1. In the 6th inning the Vikes got back-to-back singles from Everson and Quaife and then, followed by two outs, a single by Lunde. The score was now 9-3. But once again the Vikings committed a couple of errors and misread balls in the outfield. The Falcons scored three more in the 7th. After the bottom of the inning the Vikings lost 12-5.
Next week the Vikings take on Ely, BEST, and also have a double-header against the Thunder Bay Slam team.
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