Above: In the Tuesday, April 20 game versus Silver Bay, Jacob Rude attempts to tag a Mariner runner out on his way to third base. Rude lobbed the ball to third for the out. Left: On Thursday, April 22, the Vikings faced the Two Harbors Agates, with Darryl Hansen keeping the Agate hitters off balance the entire game.
The Cook County baseball team lost a tough game to Silver Bay early in the week before getting a key win against the Two Harbors Agates. On Tuesday, April 20, the Vikings lost at home to Silver Bay, 10-6. Two days later in Two Harbors, Cook County won a closely contested game, 5-2. The Vikings are now 4-2 on the season.
At home against Silver Bay, senior Jacob Rude took the mound for Cook County. After a few fielding errors had the Vikings in trouble, Rude got a strikeout and a groundout to keep the Mariners off the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the first inning, senior center fielder James Groth reached base after a Mariner fielding error. Groth then put his speed to work on the base paths by stealing both second and third base. Drew Holmen next reached base on another fielding error while Groth scored. Holmen eventually scored on a Viking groundout as the Vikings took an early 2-0 lead.
It only took Rude 11 pitches in the second inning to get the three Mariner hitters he faced out. Neither team scored in the second or third innings, as the Vikings maintained a two-run lead, 2-0.
After Rude retired the Mariners in the top of the fourth inning, senior Cody Anderson led off the bottom of the fourth with a single but was tagged out on his way to second. Following a Viking strikeout, Kale Boomer reached base by drawing a walk. Boomer then stole second base and scored on a Groth double. Holmen was walked to keep the two-out rally alive. Rude then came through with an RBI single, scoring Groth. An attempted double steal nailed Holmen at third base when the catcher quickly threw to the pitcher, who turned and nabbed Holmen at third to end the inning. TheVikings now led 4-0.
Thetop of the fifthinning proved disastrous for the Vikings’ as four fielding errors led to six unearned runs for the Mariners. Despite getting just two hits, Silver Bay took advantage of the four Vikings miscues to score six runs and take a two run lead, 6-4.
Cook County was unable to answer in the bottom of the fifth inning while Silver Bay tacked on another run in the top of the sixth to take a 7-4 advantage.
With Anderson and Boomer on base and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, senior catcher Drew Holmen came through with a single that scored both Viking runners. Holmen was stranded on first, but the Vikings were down by just one run, 7-6.
The Mariners added three runs in the seventh and the Vikings were unable to answer as they lost a tough one at home, 10-6. Seven of the Mariners’ 10 runs were unearned. Groth scored two runs for the Vikings while Rude had two RBIs in the contest.
Two days later with the Vikings still stinging from the loss at home, Cook County found itself in a great game against Two Harbors. Following three straight Viking outs in the top of the first, the Agates scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-0 lead.
After expending 23 pitches in the first inning, senior pitcher Darryl Hansen only needed 12 pitches to overcome a Viking fielding error and keep the Agates from scoring again.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Hansen led off the inning with a walk. Jesse Johnson then came in to pinch run. Johnson quickly advanced to third base on two wild pitches. Quaife was then walked. Another Agate wild pitch scored Johnson and advanced Quaife to second base. Kale Boomer drew the third consecutive walk for Cook County. A double steal advanced both Boomer and Quaife to second and third base respectively. Two Harbors’ catcher threw to third base to stop Quaife from stealing. However, the catcher’s throw went into left field. Quaife scored and Boomer advanced to third base on the error. With one out, Everson hit a hard grounder to first that scored Boomer and gave the Vikings a 3-2 lead.
The third and fourth innings were uneventful. In the top of the fifth, Holmen started things off with a hard hit single and then advanced to second on an error. With one out, Holmen stole third base. Quaife followed with a twoout single, scoring Holmen and giving the Vikings a 4-2 lead.
Hansen continued to cruise on the mound, getting three quick outs in the bottom of the fifth. Cook County’s Colin Everson scored in the top of the sixth as the Vikings extended their lead to three runs.
The Agates couldn’t do much against Hansen, however, as the Vikings won a hard-fought contest, 5-2. No Viking scored more than one run or had more than one hit in the victory. Senior Darryl Hansen was the story of the game, pitching all seven innings for a complete game. Hansen hit the corners of the plate and changed speeds well, keeping the Agate hitters off balance for the entire game. In addition to Hansen’s terrific work on the mound, Viking base runners stole 11 bases.
The Vikings played McGregor this past Tuesday afternoon after this edition went to press. Look in next week’s edition for all the scores and highlights.
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