Left: In his first start of the year Frankie Miller pitched a gem of a game against Two Harbors. Throwing hard and with pinpoint accuracy, Miller kept the Agate batters guessing all night long. Above: Jaret Baker didn’t hit this ball too far, but he hit it hard which caused the Two Harbors’ shortstop to bobble it. Two runs were scored when the shortstop threw it over the first basemen’s head and Jaret was safe on first with two RBIs.
It’s Miller time!
Frankie Miller, that is.
Down 2-0 after one inning of play, it didn’t take the Vikings’ offense long to catch fire and put a thorough pounding on the baseballs thrown by Two Harbors’ pitchers last Thursday, April 23 at the Cook County baseball field.
The Vikings won the game going away 10-3 behind some great defense and outstanding pitching by Miller, who went a strong six and one-third innings before being pulled in favor of Owen Anderson, who came in and gave up one run before closing the door on the Agates.
The Viking loaded the bases in the second inning behind a double by Rory Bakke, a base on balls by Andrew Lashinski, and a single by Richie Furlong. Jaret Baker came up to bat and hit a smash to the Two Harbors shortstop who bobbled it then threw it over the first baseman’s head, allowing two Vikings to score.
With men on first and third and no outs, Anderson came up and smacked a long ball into the gap between center and left scoring Furlong. However, as Baker legged it from first base he tried to come all the way home on Anderson’s long drive and was tagged out. The alert catcher saw Anderson rounding second for third and threw to his shortstop who tagged Anderson out. It was a strange double play on a great hit and one that killed what could have been a very big Viking rally.
Not to worry, Miller kept shutting down Agate batters and the Vikings continued to hit. The Vikings added a run in the third then three more in the fourth, rallying to score three runs off of a couple of scratch infield hits and two throwing errors by Two Harbors infielders. A run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth were all the Vikings needed to take an easy win from the 2A school.
Vikings beat Silver Bay 19-7
On Monday night, April 27 the Vikings traveled to Silver Bay to face the Mariners. Lashinski got the win for the Vikings but Baker, who pitched three innings and Miller, who got the final out, assisted him.
All told the Mariners got two hits but were walked 11 times while striking out five times.
Meanwhile the Vikings scored 19 runs off of 18 hits. Jamie Wick homered in the third inning and Travis Bradley homered in the fourth with two runners on base. Anderson, who has had a hot bat all year, went four for four and scored four times. Bradley went three for three and was hit by a pitch his fourth time at the plate. Jack Wieben and Jamie Wick were two for four while rapidly improving Bubba Finke was two for three.
The Vikings committed just two errors and did not strike out while walking twice.
Vikings 7-0 over Barnum
Tuesday, April 28 was a beautiful day to play baseball on the North Shore with temperatures in the mid-60s and blue skies above. At least it was all sunshine and blue skies for the Vikings.
The host Vikings beat the Barnum Bombers 7-0 behind the strong pitching of Bakke who went seven innings giving up three hits, two walks while striking out five on 73 pitches.
“Rory pitched a gem of a game,” said Head Coach Arleigh Jorgenson, adding that the Vikings made no errors behind him.
While Bakke had an outstanding day on the mound, the sharp hitting of Anderson led off the game with a double and went two for three on the night and scored three runs. Bradley went two for three and scored once while Finke was two for two with a big double in the fourth to score Bakke who had reached on a walk.
“Efficient pitching makes for good defense and confident offense,” said Jorgenson. “Significant contributions came from all positions.”
Hunter Lake took the loss for Barnum.
The Vikings are now 6-2 on the year and next face Esko at Esko before coming home to play Ely on Saturday, May 2 at noon.
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