A meeting of the minds: Viking baseball players met at the mound to discuss strategy during a recent home game. The 2016 Vikings played an exciting brand of baseball and nearly qualified for the state tournament. L-R, clockwise: Frankie Miller, Leo Johnson, Rory Bakke, Jaret Baker and Andrew Miller (20).
In what sounds like a battle among wild animals, the Vikings beat the Grizzlies but lost to the Tigers on Friday, June 3 at Terry Egerdahl field in Proctor. The Vikings finished their baseball season with a 6-1 quarterfinal loss to the Cherry Tigers in the Section 7A play-offs.
Viking Head Coach Arleigh Jorgenson recounted the first game against Northwoods.
“Northwoods scored first on an unearned run in the first, but we countered. Owen Anderson led off with a walk, stole second and continued to third when the ball sailed into centerfield. Rory Bakke drove him in with a sacrifice fly into left. The game continued without any further scoring for a few innings. We finally broke through with two more later in the game.
“Leo Johnson pitched a terrific game. He had to work his way out of trouble a few times and loaded the bases in the top of the seventh. With two out, Andrew Miller came in to relieve. Leo was over 100 pitches on the day.
“A passed ball made the score 3-2 and gave us a scare, but Miller struck out the final batter and, with the clouds getting darker, we moved on to face Cherry.
“Rory Bakke started for the Vikings, and pitched very well. We felt we were in our best position with Rory fresh and on the mound for us. Unfortunately, Cherry countered with an outstanding left-hander who frustrated us all game.
“The game started out in a similar way and was knotted at 1-1. Cherry kept coming at us, and we continued to struggle. I believe we struck out 11 times.
“We left a lot of men on base, failing to connect in clutch situations. The boys played hard, but I think we were a little shocked that the season could be over so quickly,” said Jorgenson.
“I am very proud of our 2016 team. For their coach, and for the players, it was mighty tough to say goodbye.
“These seniors were all leaders. Owen Anderson received All-Conference honors for the second year in a row and will represent the Vikings in the Polar League All-Star Game on June 20 in Wade Stadium in Duluth. Owen has been our leadoff hitter for the last two years, and our spark plug. He gets on base and he runs when he gets there. We will miss his hard drives into the right-center gap that have gone for triples several times during his career. His signature contribution was his play in centerfield. Cook County has a history of outstanding play in center field, but none can surpass what he was able to do for us these years.
“Rory Bakke emerged this year as a potent number 2 hitter. He hit the ball for average and with power. Rory plays like an accomplished senior. I think he had just one error all year, and that was when we moved him over to play shortstop one day. He was our infield rock at second base. And, he became our go-to pitcher for a big game.
“It was no accident that he was the guy we saved for Cherry,” said Jorgenson.
“Jack Wieben stepped forward before the season even began and said, I will catch.’ He worked really hard to learn how to play the position. It is the most demanding position on the field, and requires thorough knowledge of the game on the defensive side. We all have a deep appreciation for the effort he gave and for the level of performance he achieved.
“Against Cherry, when we had a few hitters feeling frustrated, Jack kept his head down and hit the ball. Jack appears to be an easy-going fellow, but I’ll take Jack in my corner any day of the week. I am very proud of the way he kept his focus all through the year and played very, very well right up until the end.”
Jorgenson said, “Andrew Fenstad-Lashinski was a bit of a surprise this year, but not really. He has always had a live arm and he has always been very competitive. In his junior year, the pitches were there, as was the velocity, but he would pull off the ball a little bit with his body going toward first base, and the ball would miss that low outside corner. This year, not so much. His physical maturation allowed him to stay through the ball all the way to his target, and he became our big game pitcher. He didn’t win them all, but he was effective against top competition all year.
“He was also an outstanding left-fielder because of his speed, his long arms, and his quick reads on the ball. But, we also needed his strong arm at third base. His answer was always, ‘wherever you need me coach.’”
“Leo Johnson was labeled by me and others very early in his life in school, probably way back as far as Sawtooth Elementary, as a natural athlete,” said Jorgenson. “He has always been a player that we have looked at as our likely shortstop. But, he has always been able to play anywhere. We entered him into our line-up when he was younger as an outfielder, when our infielders were all a little older.
“But, last year we made the decision to focus on his infield play. He was our shortstop this year, our second baseman when Rory was pitching, and our clean-up hitter. I have not seen the final stats, but he was one of our leading hitters for average, as well as for power.
“His three-run homer against South Ridge was the highlight of his offensive year. Leo also pitched some big games for us. Against Northwoods he got every out except the very last one, and sent us to our game with Cherry in good shape,” said Coach.
“Jaret Baker is a passionate player and studies his own game continuously. He made adjustments to his game, both offensively and defensively throughout his career, but his senior year was his best. He became a consistent hitter, and often in the clutch,” said Jorgenson.
“He was also a solid defender at first base. He made more than one infielder look good more than once with his scoops at the one-bagger. He made a couple of outstanding plays on high fly balls that were behind him and toward the fence in foul territory against Cherry. He missed the first one, made the adjustment and caught the next two. It is pretty rewarding to coach a player like Jaret who is always ready to take something new into his game,” he said.
“Frankie Miller I have saved for last,” said Coach Jorgenson. “I don’t know why, but while Owen has patrolled the outfield and set up the offense, Frankie has controlled the infield and pitched us out of too many jams to count. He is not only physically accomplished, he is emotionally and mentally accomplished.
Every team has to have a player who rises up when the challenges are the greatest.
“All of these seniors have done this, but Frankie is the guy who takes charge of the infield when it is time for us to become the aggressor defensively. He is like a coach on the field.
“Offensively, he was our number three hitter most of the year. He had his struggles early in the year, jumping out at the pitch a little, but he fixed it, and he fixed it well. I cannot imagine playing without Frankie, that’s about all I can really say about this young man,” said Jorgenson.
“I think the special thing about this group might be the level of affection that exists between them as well as my feelings for them on a personal level. This is a fine group of seven graduating seniors. I am confident in them.
“They will all go on to lead good lives, they will contribute to the common good, and each one of them will always be somebody’s great teammate,” said Coach Jorgenson.
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