Colin Everson, being the good Viking player he is, swings a Thor-like bat. When he connects, it’s nothing but thunder and lightning! Right: Mike Sjogren is just one of several fine pitchers the Vikings will employ this season. It will be nice when it warms up and the pitchers can get their arms loose.
The Cook County Viking baseball team starts the season where? In the high school gym, of course, hitting off tees and taking batting practice in a cage in the corner of the gym. Why are they practicing in the gym, you may ask. It’s because in spring in northern Minnesota, the ground is still frozen and the field still has snow on it. But this didn’t stop the boys from preparing for the upcoming games against the Moose Lake Rebels and the Bulldogs of Carlton.
With little to no players seeing any live pitching for the first couple weeks of practice, the baseball team traveled to Moose Lake for the first game of the season. It was a beautiful day for baseball, low 60s, the sun was shining and the boys were pumped to finally be outside. The team came out of the gate a little sluggish in the first two innings, but by the 3rd inning the bats came alive with Dylan Quaife and Alex Murray drawing back-to-back walks and Daniel Ditmanson hitting an RBI single. Those at-bats were followed by a double from Will Petty scoring two. The score was 7-3 after 2 ½ in favor of the home team Rebels.
Entering the 6th inning with the score 12-7, the Vikings were ready to rally, with Murray reaching on an error and Quaife getting a single. Colin Everson came up to bat confident as ever. Standing tall at the plate, Everson looked like the Norse God of Thunder. With a quick swing of the bat, just like Thor’s mighty hammer Mjollnir, the ball entered the stratosphere. Going, going, gone! Three-run HOMER for Everson!
After getting mobbed at home plate by his teammates and coaches alike, the team was ready to put some more runs on the board. They got a single from Mike Sjogren and walks from Will Petty and Dene Taylor and then freshman Ben Kroska came to the plate and hit a single that scored two. At the end of 5 ½ the game was tied at 12. With pitching getting thin for the Vikings and trying to save a few arms for the upcoming games the rally was halted and the Vikings lost 17 to 14 at Moose Lake.
Vikings fall to Carlton
On a cold Cook County afternoon, the Vikings were ready for their first home game of the season against the Carlton Bulldogs. With senior Dene Taylor on the mound, both teams started out cold, like the weather, only manufacturing a few runs in the first couple of innings. Entering the 3rd inning of play, Taylor ran out of gas and Mike Sjogren took the mound with the bases juiced. The Bulldogs’ offense heated up and with the Viking defense threw the ball around the field and the Dogs scored 9 in the third.
Once again the Vikings were down going into the bottom of the 6th, this time the score was 12-3.The Viking hoped for another rally and with Quaife, Kroska, and Everson on the bases, Kale Boomer delivered a laser of a single to the outfield scoring all runners. After the Vikings scored five in the bottom of the 6th the score was 12 to 8. With the cold getting the better of both teams, only a few more runs were scored and the Vikings lost 15-10.
Viking Scoreboard
Vikings vs. Moose Lake
Pitching
Quaife 2 IP, 8 R (5 ER), 5 H, 1 K, 3 BB
Murray 3 IP, 4 R (4 ER) 4 H, 2 K, 4 BB
Boomer (L) 1/3 IP, 3 R, (3 ER) 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP
Taylor 2/3 IP, 2 R (2 ER) 1 H
Batting
Quaife 3×4, 2B, 2R, 2RBI
Everson 2×3, HR, 2B,
Petty 2×4, 2B, 1R, 4 RBI
Vikings vs. Carlton
Pitching
Taylor (L) 2 2/3 IP, 8 R (8 ER), 6 H, 1 K, 2 BB 1 HBP
Sjogren 4 1/3 IP, 7 R (4 ER) 7 H, 6 K, 4 BB, 1 HBP
Batting
Boomer 2×2, 3 SB, 4 RBI
Leave a Reply