The Monday May, 10 home game versus the Floodwood Polar Bears was a heartbreaker, with the Vikings coming up one run short. Left: Junior Jessie Johnson keeps a careful eye on the ball as he takes off for first base. Above: Senior catcher Drew Holmen went two-for-three at the plate, had three RBIs and two runs for the Vikings—and caused some excitement when he attempted to steal second and ended up sliding back to first—safe!
The Cook County baseball team dropped two games last week to bring its overall season record to 4-9. On Monday, May 10, the Vikings lost 11-10, in an extra-inning heartbreaker at home against the Floodwood Polar Bears. Cook County then traveled to Cotton the next day and came up short, losing 9-6 to the Cardinals.
At home against Floodwood, the Vikings got off to a good start when senior ace Darryl Hansen retired the first six batters he faced while giving up only one run in the first four innings of play.
Senior catcher Drew Holmen was walked to start the game in the bottom of the first inning. Holmen reached second and third base on backto back passed balls. Jesse Johnson then responded with an RBI single and James Groth followed with another single. Johnson was thrown out at third base on an attempted steal. With two outs, Hansen hit a single to score Groth and give the Vikings an early 2-0 lead.
Cook County added five runs in the bottom of the second inning, which was highlighted by a Holmen triple and Hansen double. The Vikings took advantage of four free passes and were leading 7-0.
After the Polar Bears added a run in the top of the fourth, the Vikings answered with a run of their own. Jacob Rude walked and moved to second base on a Viking groundout. Rude advanced to third and scored on back-to-back passed balls by Floodwood. Cook County led 8-1.
In the top of the fifth, the Polar Bears scored three runs on four hits and a walk. The Vikings couldn’t answer and led by just four runs, 8-4.
Dylan Quaife took the mound in the sixth inning. After giving up a single, he walked the next three batters. The Vikings also committed two crucial fielding errors and gave up five runs. The Polar Bears went up 9-8. Cook County was unable to score and trailed by one run with just one inning left.
In the top of the seventh, Floodwood added another run to take a 10-8 lead. The Vikings, however, rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Seventh grader Alex Murray was sent in to pinch hit and he responded with a clutch single. Freshman Colin Everson smacked a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Following a Viking strikeout, Holmen singled to score both Murray and Everson to tie the game at 10-10. A strikeout and crucial base running mistake by the Vikings kept the game tied and forced extra innings.
Floodwood scored the final run of the game in the top of the eighth while the Vikings couldn’t get on base in the bottom half of the inning. Cook County came up one run short in the 11-10 loss. Holmen went two for three at the plate, was walked twice, and had three RBIs and two runs scored for the Vikings.
Cotton
In Cotton the next day, the Vikings started the top of the first inning with a Holmen double. After a ground out moved him to third, Holmen scored on a Rude RBI groundout as the Vikings took an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as three of Cotton’s first four hitters ripped singles to take a 2-1 lead after one complete inning of play.
Cook County added three runs in the top of the second inning when Murray, Alex Ditmanson, and Holmen scored to give the Vikings a 4-2 lead. The Cardinals were unable to score in the bottom half of the inning as Cook County maintained a two run advantage after two innings of play.
After failing to score in the top of the third inning, Cotton erupted for five runs in the bottom half of the inning. Two more costly fielding errors killed the Vikings as they trailed 7-4.
The Vikings added two more runs in the fifth inning when Rude and Hansen both scored. It wouldn’t be enough, however, as the Cardinals went on to win, 8-6, in seven innings of play. Holmen scored two runs for the Vikings, who didn’t have any one single player account for more than one hit in the game.
Cook County is now 4-9 on the season. The Vikings played in Albrook on Tuesday after this edition went to press. Cook County’s final home game is this Friday against Barnum. Look in next week’s edition for all the scores and highlights.
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