With the snow recently gone and no green grass in sight the baseball team worked hard to get the field ready for play in their home game against Esko this past Tuesday. The Vikings led until the seventh inning but the game got away when the team’s star pitcher Andrew Miller had to be relieved. Up at bat, wearing number 11 is Andrew Miller. He got a hit, which started a two run rally as the Vikings led 5-2 in the fifth inning.
By one person’s account, it’s been 11 years since CCHS has beaten Esko in baseball. That long winless streak looked like it was going to end on Tuesday, April 24, when in front of a home crowd the Vikings took a 5-3 lead into the seventh and last inning against the Eskimos.
Behind the stellar pitching of Andrew Miller and some timely hitting and some excellent fielding, the boys’ lead looked to be pretty secure. That is, until the seventh inning when Miller, who had thrown 104 pitches, had to be relieved. From that point on the Double-A Esko Eskimos couldn’t be stopped, scoring eight runs and taking an 11-5 win over a very disappointed CCHS team.
“Andrew Miller took the mound and proved that he is our ace,” said head coach Arleigh Jorgenson. “He scattered eight hits, except for the first when he gave up three hits for two runs. The boys played defense, or it could have been worse.
“He (Miller) cruised the rest of the way, striking out seven and walking three. Another earned run scored when he left a runner on base before being relieved in the seventh.
“Our relievers, however, walked six and gave up two hits, and an error was thrown in. The result was a 5-11 loss.”
Was there a silver lining in the loss? The coach was asked.
“Where is the silver lining? Well, it required a herculean effort by virtually the entire team to get the field ready to play. Water is pooling behind third base, and will until the frost comes out. The boys responded with shovels, rakes, and wheelbarrows. They are a responsible group.”
The Vikings offense could have been better, noted Jorgenson.
“Our offense showed some fight, but not enough. We collected only four hits throughout the game and walked just four times, but struck out eight times.
“In the first inning, we took advantage of three consecutive walks when Joe Deschampe delivered a two-RBI single. Cameron Roy drove in the third with a sacrifice fly.
“In the fifth, Colton Furlong reached on an error. Josh Prom bunted him to third and beat the throw for a base hit. Andrew Miller reached first on a fielder’s choice and Prom was out at second. Miller stole second trying to free Furlong for a double-steal. Esko didn’t bite, but Tristen Bockovich drove in Colton when the shortstop fumbled his ground ball.
“Joe Deschampe drove in Miller, with a sacrifice fly, for his third RBI. Tristen was thrown out at third trying to advance reading a throw that was headed to the plate, but was cut-off.”
Coach Jorgenson said the loss was, “Very disappointing. Any player who tells you otherwise must be playing for a different team! We have a high bar. We had Esko 5-3 through six and lost it. Credit Esko, sure, but when Cook County has a fine team like Esko on the ropes, we must finish. We are a better team than we seem to realize. This was a crushing defeat. We shall see how the team responds.”
The Vikings have only recently begun to practice outside, noted the coach, but, “the same was true for Esko. We are surely on an upward trajectory; we will learn and progress from this.
“Will this propel us forward immediately, or was this a blow to our confidence that we will have to recover from? We shall see. We are scheduled to play two games on Friday, against Silver Bay and Cherry. The location has just been changed to Silver Bay. We will now play Silver Bay at 11 a.m. on Friday, and Cherry immediately after.”
As bitter as the loss was, the coach said, “It was great to see Noah Furcht throw really well for Esko’s JV.” The Furchts used to live in Grand Marais and Noah’s dad was an assistant coach on the baseball team.
Leave a Reply