Left: Andrew Lashinski singled against Silver Bay in this at bat. His glove was golden in the game against Ely as he made two outstanding catches in the outfield. Above: Jamie “Jammer” Wick got his first start as a pitcher this year in the Vikings’ game against Silver Bay. Wick was credited with the win although he had to be relieved by Leo Johnson late in the fourth inning.
The Viking baseball team recouped after three straight losses to beat the Silver Bay Mariners 9-4 at home on Thursday, May 7.
Jamie Wick pitched his first game of the season and went 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits. Leo Johnson came in and finished the game, giving up one hit with no strikeouts and no walks.
The Vikings recorded 13 hits for the game, struck out four times and walked four times. Each team committed three errors. Silver Bay stole three times while Cook County recorded five stolen bases.
Richie Furlong kicked things off when he reached first on a single and ended up on third base on two passed balls. Travis Bradley walked and stole second. Wick reached on an error by the third baseman, which resulted in Furlong scoring. Next Jack Wieben reached on an error and Bradley scored. That was followed by Rory Bakke who hit into a fielder’s choice, which brought in Wieben before the Vikings’ rally ended.
Silver Bay went three up and three down in their half of the first.
In the second, Andrew Lashinski singled and then stole second. Jaret Baker reached on an error by the third baseman, which moved Andrew to third. Baker stole second, but Lashinski was caught trying to steal home on a double steal.
Frankie Miller reached first on an error in centerfield. Furlong then singled in Baker and moved Miller to third in an attempt to double steal. Miller was picked off second and Bradley flew out to right. Again the Vikings held Silver Bay scoreless.
In the third, Wick singled, Wieben reached on an error, Bakke walked, and Brian Finke flew out to left and Lashinski drove in both Wick and Wieben with a single.
Silver Bay scored twice in the fourth. The Vikings answered with another run in the fourth as Bradley was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a sacrifice by Wick and driven in by a single by Wieben.
The Mariners added one more run in the fifth and the Vikings added two more of their own in their half of the fifth on a single and a stolen base by Finke, a single and stolen base by Johnson, and a single by Furlong. The Mariners scored once again in the seventh but the Vikings prevailed.
Vikings beat Ely 4-2
Frankie Miller showed great command of his pitches in his complete game win against the always-tough Ely Timberwolves on Saturday, May 9 on a cold, windy day.
Miller threw 90 pitches, giving up six hits while striking out four and walking three.
While Miller pitched brilliantly, his defense was solid behind him despite three errors in the field. Lashinski made what could be called a game-saving catch in left when the Timberwolves had two runners on base in the top of the sixth. It was Lashinski’s second great catch of the night.
It’s the first time the Vikings have beaten Ely in baseball in a long time. The Timberwolves are last year’s section champion and state tournament entry from our region for Single A schools.
The Vikings failed to score in the first inning and kept Ely off the scoreboard as well.
In the second inning, Wieben led off the inning with a double. Bakke struck out and Finke hit it back to the pitcher for the second out. Then the Vikings got hot. Leo Johnson smacked a single, which brought in Wieben. The Vikings next three batters, Lashinski, Miller and Furlong also singled. Before Ely knew what hit them they were down 4-0.
Ely scored two runs in the fifth inning. Their number nine hitter led off with a single. Another single followed him and the runners advanced on a sacrifice fly.
Sprinting hard from his shortstop position, Rory Bakke made a great play going back on a not-soshort fly into shallow left field for the second out. Miller recorded the first out on a strikeout. The next batter up, however, hit a hard sinking line drive into right field that got by Finke to drive in both of Ely’s runs. Miller struck out the next batter to end the inning.
In the sixth inning Ely batters reached base on an error and then a walk before Lashinski made his great catch to stop their rally.
The final out of the day came on a great play by catcher Richie Furlong. The Ely batter hit a sharp grounder to short and the throw to first baseman Wick got by him. Furlong, however, had sprinted over to backup Wick and he picked the ball up and ran over and tagged the Ely runner who was standing off of first base. A great play and a great way to end the game.
The Viking win came without two starters, Jaret Baker was out with a hurt left shoulder and Owen Anderson was out with mono. Both players are expected to play in the Vikings’ next game.
“We made some timely plays and had some timely hitting,” said Head Coach Arleigh Jorgenson, “Miller, Bakke, Furlong, and Lashinski all played big on defense, and the rest were all solid. Baseball is a game of big plays when it comes to championship caliber play. It could easily have gone the other way.”
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