Local Baseball Teams Slide Into Stellar Start of Season

If the first few games of the season are any indication of what is to come, it will be a great year to follow our local baseball teams. Silver Bay, Two Harbors, and Cook Coun­ty all have a “W” to celebrate, and they are just getting start­ed. The Mariners have a few under their cleats already!

The William Kelley High School varsity team had a bit of an earlier start, winning against Chisholm at Mesabi East High School. They took the win with a 10-7 score. They went on to play the Nevis Tigers at Siebert Field in Min­neapolis in a double header. In the first round, Silver Bay won 12-7. In the second, they brought in nine runs to the Ti­gers’ four.

In the April 9th game against Carlton, the Mariners showed they meant business in the very first inning, where they scored three runs. In the third inning, they got five more. The final score was 9-3. Pitcher Jake Stadler, a senior, struck out ten batters over four innings while only walking one. Braylen Hoff, also a senior, took over the mound at the top of the fifth inning and struck out three.

In the next few days from this writing, the Mariners will play a home game against Cook County and another against North Woods. They will start out in May against the Mercs at McGregor High School. Go Bay!

Two Harbors Agates and Cook County Vikings started their season with a double header at the Viking’s field on April 11th. The Agates had been sched­uled to play Proctor, but the weather wasn’t cooperative. That Thursday, however, Two Harbor’s Baseball Head Coach Adam Labat reported that the weather was comfortable for April baseball with just a few sprinkles.

(Before I get into some details about the game, I want to pro­mote the Game Changer app once again. ((I promise I’m not sponsored by the company!)) I was able to try out the app and catch part of the Agates ver­sus the Vikings games on my phone. It was cool to watch the players move from base to base and see the play by play. It was very fun to follow and easy to use. It is free to down­load, and you are able to search for the teams you want to fol­low. When the game is being played, you can follow along. It’s neat!)

Two Harbors started strong in the first game by scoring two runs in the first inning. How­ever, it would be the only two runs the Agates would have in the game. Cook County an­swered those two runs with two of their own in the second and scored three more in the sixth. The Vikings declared victory for the first time.

That game may have served as a warm-up for both teams. The second game of the dou­ble header was pretty excit­ing. Two Harbors once again scored two runs in the first in­ning. Cook County caught up and surpassed the Agates by the end of the second by one run. Two Harbors would tie the game at the top of the third. In the end, the game would go to the Agates 10-9.

The Vikings may have lost a bit of momentum, going on to lose to Mesabi East 3-0 the next day and falling to Moun­tain Iron-Buhl by a score of 9-1. As I write this, the team is set to play Barnum and Cook County. They will then go up against Silver Bay later in the week. Their schedule consists of playing Chisholm, South Ridge, and McGregor in rapid succession in the next couple weeks. Go Vikings!

By the time this edition is pub­lished, the Agates will have taken on South Ridge. They will play against Pine City at home on Saturday, April 20th, then play Rock Ridge, Barnum, and Esko, all before April is through. We know you will rock them, Agates!

Congrats on the great start of the season to the Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Cook County baseball teams!

Watch the Northshore Journal for further updates on your fa­vorite teams.