Congratulations to the champions in the Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Softball Tournament, Neighbourhood from Thunder Bay. In 2nd place was Team Murry. Finishing third was Pederson’s Disposal of Grand Marais. The tournament men’s MVP was Ethen Stanglund. The women’s MVP was Casey Gwash Bronikowski of Grand Marais. The team claiming honors for Best Sportsmanship was Team Murry.
Summer baseball isn’t supposed to hurt. Summer baseball is about playing opportunities, having a good time, and building skills, right? On Friday, July 22, our North Shore American Legion Baseball Team came within one out of advancing to the American Legion Division 2 State Baseball Tournament. Ryan DeShaw, Silver Bay’s high school season ace, held a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning. With two out and no runners on base, Marble rallied for three runs and the lead. Our North Shore boys rallied to tie it and the game went on until Marble scored two more in the top of the ninth. With North Shore runners on first and third, the season ended. Marble advances to the State Tournament, our boys returned home.
The season was a good one in terms of balance in the section. Our North Shore team consisted of two Silver Bay players, Ryan DeShaw and Daniel Wilson; four returning college boys Drew Holmen, James Groth, Jacob Rude, and Jake Schwarz and Cook County High School players Jake Plahuta, Will Petty, Dylan Quaife, Colin Everson, Kale Boomer, Joe Borud, Ben Kroska, and some regular season appearances by Daniel Lunde, Alex Murray, Richie Furlong, and Rory Bakke. The team split with every team in the district except Deer River, who gained a sweep against a short-handed North Shore team.
Above: Randy Spry pitching in the Pederson’s Disposal versus the Warriors game on Saturday, August 13. The Pederson’s Disposal team finished third in the Rendezvous Days Softball tournament. Left: Brittany Trovall on the Higher Mark Construction team made a nice hit low into the infield in the Saturday, August 13 game against Cheers, a team from Cloquet.
The District Tournament was to begin in Deer River on Tuesday, July 19. Instead, the team was turned around near the junction of St. Louis County 16 and Hwy 53, just east of Hibbing. A huge storm hit the Grand Rapids area and the games would not be played. Instead, 10 players gathered for the long trip the next day without Will Petty and Jake Schwarz. The heat was stifling as Ryan DeShaw took the mound against Ely after a 10-day lay-off for a trip out west. A combination of the effects of the lay-off, the heat, and the Ely hitters, did him in, and he was relieved by Jacob Rude in the second with a six-run deficit. Ely went on to score seven more. Joe Borud relieved, the North Shore team deciding to save its starting pitchers for the losers’ bracket.
Brookston, losing to Marble, became their opponent in the elimination game. Dylan Quaife took the mound and pitched a complete game for the win, 10-7. Dylan gave up seven hits and our North Shore committed five errors. It was not a pretty game defensively, but offensively the boys put up 10 runs on 10 hits. Jacob Rude reached base four times, twice on hits, twice on walks, and scored three times. The fifth inning saw five runs coming across for the North Shore boys, a hitting parade following Dylan Quaife’s walk by Colin Everson, Jacob Rude, Jake Plahuta, and Joe Borud. Brookston rallied for two in the seventh, but it would not be enough.
The boys returned to the North Shore on Wednesday night, hoping for some cooler weather, and returned to Deer River on Friday. James Groth took the mound against Deer River, the number one seed who had been surprised by Marble in the first game on Wednesday. Trailing three to five after four, James had to be removed due to elbow soreness. On only one day’s rest, the call went back to Dylan. In the top of the fifth, the North Shore put up eight runs, breaking it open. Drew Holmen drew a walk. Dylan, Colin, and Jacob hit singles, then Ryan DeShaw grounded out to second. Daniel Wilson followed with another single, Jake Plahuta drew a walk and Joe Borud popped up to the pitcher. James Groth and Drew Holmen followed with singles, Dylan drew another walk, and Colin finished it off with another single before Jacob Rude struck out to end the inning. From there, Dylan cruised home. Colin Everson went five for five in this critical game.
Two hours later, North Shore would face Marble for a trip to the state tournament. Ely, being the host of the State Tournament, was already in and leading the Tournament undefeated. Second place would advance.
Ryan DeShaw was back for another try, and this time, he was sharp and strong. Marble did score one in the third, but North Shore came back with five runs in the third and things were looking good. David Zilbert, however, Marble’s left-handed starter seemed to get stronger as the game progressed and thwarted our team from then on through six. In their half of the sixth, Marble scored twice – a base on balls, a triple, and a sacrifice fly did the job. In the seventh, Ryan started strong getting the first two out on a ground ball to second and a fly out to the shortstop. A walk did not seem too dangerous, as Marble needed two to score. A base hit, however, a walk, and a wild pitch brought Marble to within one. DeShaw was tired, but had pitched a great game. Groth and Quaife had given us pretty much all they had, so DeShaw stayed in and gave up the crucial base hit before finally getting that third out.
The North Shore rallied, and tied the score in the bottom of the seventh. Dylan Quaife stepped up and took the mound shutting down Marble one-two-three in the eighth. Marble’s lead-off hitter reached on a single and stole second. The number two hitter put down a sacrifice bunt and moved the runner to third. The runner on third then broke for the plate as Quaife prepared to throw from the wind-up. Instead of stealing home, however, Dylan was called for a balk, which scored the lead run. A second run followed. While North Shore got runners on third and first, David Zilbert finished the game with a fly-out to center.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda! This would have been a first for an American Legion team from the North Shore, a trip to the State Tournament. It was a great season. It was marked by a new line-up most every day as many different players missed many different games for many different summer related reasons. But, when the play-offs came, this team of James Groth, Drew Holmen, Dylan Quaife, Colin Everson, Jacob Rude, Ryan DeShaw, Daniel Wilson, Jake Plahuta, Joe Borud, Jake Schwarz, and Ben Kroska came ever so close to making history. There are no super stars on this team, just solid baseball players top to bottom, established now as the best ever, or at the very least, the team that has gone the farthest ever.
It was a great season, and will lead to great seasons down the road. Congratulations!
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