The Northwood High School baseball team defeated St. Croix Falls 12-3 at Minong Tuesday evening in a West Lakeland Conference game.
With the win, the Evergreens are 6-5 in the WLC and St. Croix Falls drops to 3-8.
The Evergreens took the lead with three runs scored in the first inning, but St. Croix Falls made up some ground with one run in the second. St. Croix Falls add two more in the fourth, but Northwood scored one in the third and four in both the fourth and fifth inning to pull away for the 12-3 win.
T.J. Asp was the winning pitcher for Northwood, going five innings with three strikeouts and two walks while giving up six hits. Derek Denninger pitched the rest of the way for the Evergreens, walking two and giving up no hits.
Mike Malone was 3-for-4 in the game with a single, a triple and a home run. He had five RBIs and scored three runs. Gus Morley had a double and a home run to go 2-for-3. He had two RBIs and scored one run. Asp also added a three-run home run for the Evergreens.
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Brian Olson, coach of the Evergreens, said the team will have the first seed in the upcoming playoffs, and will therefore have a bye on May 25. The Evergreens will play their first tournament game on Tuesday, May 29.
Northwood will play one more game before it enters tournament play. The Evergreens are scheduled to play Turtle Lake/Clayton at Clayton at 5 p.m. Monday.
Eagles win finale
The Solon Springs High School baseball team bettered South Shore by 10 runs, as the Eagles won 14-4 at South Shore Tuesday evening.
In the first inning, the Eagles scored two runs, but South Shore answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 3-2. Eight player stepped up to the plate for South Shore in the first.
Eagles coach Nathan Ahlberg thought the team was a bit lackluster in the beginning of the game.
"We didn't play very well," Ahlberg said. "I think we expected to go in there and win."
Solon Springs found its stride in the sixth inning though, as 12 players batted and nine scored. Also aiding the Ealges in the inning were eight walks.
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"Patience at the plate was important for us in that inning," Ahlberg said.
He added that it was good to see that patience from the players as they prepare to enter tournament play. Ahlberg said the team will go more than a week now before it plays its first tournament game, so it was a good boost to end the regular season with a win.
Billy Albano got the win for Solon Springs, pitching six innings and striking out five.
Albano also gave the Eagles a hand on offense, scoring three runs on three hits with three RBIs. Both Alex Rowe and Jaren Kivela went 1-for-2 and scored two runs. Tyler LaRose had a double and scored two runs.
Beavers 4, Tigers 2
In a baseball game that experienced four rain delays, the Cumberland Beavers rallied to defeat the Northwestern Tigers 4-2 at Islander Park Tuesday night.
Cumberland's senior righty Blake Cifaldi picked up the complete-game victory while senior lefty John Rautio suffered the loss for Northwestern.
After the Beavers stranded runners on second and third in the first inning, the Tigers took the momentum in the second when they scored their only two runs of the game. Donnie Hissa singled, Elijah Bell drew a walk and Jake Tokar singled to load the bases with nobody out. Chris Fechtelkotter walked to score a run and Bell scored on a wild pitch.
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Rautio was in complete control of the Beaver bats from the second to the fifth innings. He allowed one hit and only one walk, while striking out six along the way.
Cumberland finally got to him, and with the help of a big error, got enough runs to win the game with a four-run sixth inning.
The win was the Beavers' 12th on the season. Northwestern falls to 3-13 overall and 1-12 in conference play.
