Above left: Mid swing, Rory Bakke hit this ball for a single against Silver Bay in the Vikings’ 8-4 victory over the Mariners played at home on May 22. Above: Covering second base from his shortstop position, Joe Borud made the tag on the Mariner sliding into the bag. Left: Frankie Miller isn’t flashy on the mound, just effective. He throws strikes and rarely walks runners. Miller pitched the Vikings to their victories against Silver Bay and Hill City.
In an all too short season, the young Cook County High School baseball team has gotten hot at just the right time and won four out of its last five games. The Vikings will move on in the Section 7A tournament despite losing 9-0 to Barnum in the second round of Section 7A playoffs.
The Vikings played two playoff games on Tuesday, May 27 at Ed Mettner Field in Cloquet, winning the first game 9-3 against Hill City behind pitcher Frankie Miller’s superb five-hit, nine-strikeout performance on the mound. Miller didn’t give up a walk in the game.
“Miller pitched beautifully,” said head coach Arleigh Jorgenson.
Against Hill City the Vikings jumped out ahead in the top of the first with a two-out double by Joe Borud who was driven in by Frankie Miller. In the second inning Leo Johnson hit for a single, Jack Wieben walked and Richie Furlong drove them in with a twoout double. Hill City scored all of its runs in the second inning, but the Vikings added two runs in the third when Jaret Baker hit a shot past the shortstop. In the fourth, Rory Bakke did the same, and then again drove in Borud with a double in the sixth. Borud led the way going 3-5, Furlong, Miller, and Bakke all added two hits each.
“Owen Anderson made a sensational fourth inning catch in left center for the defensive play of the game,” said Jorgenson.
Immediately following the Hill City win, the Vikings took the field against Barnum and their ace, Zac Carlson. The Vikings could muster only three hits off of Carlson, one each by Owen Anderson, Jamie Wick, and Jack Wieben. Carlson struck out 12 Vikings. Bakke started for the Vikings and gave up three runs in the bottom of the first. Three walks and a double in the third ended Bakke’s outing and Andrew Lashinski replaced him. Two walks and a double resulted in two more runs for the Bombers in the third inning. The Bombers also added three more runs in the sixth inning. Jaret Baker finished the game for the Vikings on the mound.
“We hit the Barnum pitcher, but failed to drive in runners when we had them on base,” said Jorgenson.
“On the positive side,” said Jorgenson, “Barnum used its top pitcher to defeat us and Silver Bay knocked off both Floodwood and South Ridge. Owen Anderson made another sensational catch on a fast dropping line drive with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. We leave for Hibbing tomorrow morning to take on Nashwauk in the losers bracket. If we can win that one, we will face the loser of the Ely-Silver Bay game later tomorrow evening. We are going over there knowing that we have been playing good ball and still have pitching.
“Anything can happen but either way we are pleased with where we are at. Win or lose, we know we will play some good ball,” said Jorgenson.
With the first round win over Hill City the Vikings played Nashwauk at Hibbing on Thursday at 2 p.m. (after the News-Herald deadline). If they beat Nashwauk they will either face Ely Timberwolves or Silver Bay Mariners later that day.
While the Vikings move on, so too does Silver Bay, which won each of its two Section 7A playoff games, beating Floodwood 3-0 and South Ridge 9-2. The Vikings beat Silver Bay on Thursday, May 22 by a score of 8-4. And with top ranked Floodwood eliminated after taking two losses on May 27, the field is wide open for any of the remaining teams to get to state. Go Vikings!
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