The Superior High School baseball team wrapped up the regular season with a pair of losses to the Eau Claire North Huskies Saturday at Morrie Arnovich Field.
The state's No. 1 ranked Huskies defeated the Spartans 8-3 and 6-5.
The Spartans (8-11) open the WIAA playoffs at 5 p.m. today at River Falls. The winner will take on the Huskies (18-2) at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Carson Park in Eau Claire.
In Saturday's opener, North scored its eight runs on five hits, committed one error and left 11 runners on base. Superior had three hits, six errors and stranded six runners on base.
Craig Torgerson suffered the loss for Superior, allowing five runs (four earned) in three innings. His line included two hits, three walks, three hit batters and two strikeouts. Andy Ross pitched two innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks while striking out one. Brent Engstrom finished up, allowing one run on two hits, one walk and two strikeouts in two innings.
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Mitch Running struck out five in four innings in the win for ECN.
Mike Swanson hit a home run and scored two runs to lead Superior at the plate. Matt Archambault and Torgerson had the two other hits for Superior
Archambault's RBI single in the first inning gave Superior a 1-0 lead, scoring Swanson who led off with a walk.
ECN responded with four runs on a hit, three walks and an error in the second inning. The Huskies also scored single runs in the third through sixth innings.
Swanson's solo home run came in the seventh inning.
In the second game, Superior had 10 hits, two errors and seven left on base.
The Huskies also had 10 hits along with two errors and 10 runners left on base.
Brady Arneson started for Superior and took the loss. In four innings he allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, two walks and a strike out. Eric Orr, Swanson and Cory Wilander finished up, allowing one unearned run, two hits and two walks.
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Zach Sitek led Superior offensively with a double, two singles, a run scored and three RBIs. Engstrom added two hits and an RBI and Swanson, Dan Manion, Chris Blake, Wilander and Archambault had a hit apiece.
Eau Claire scored early to jump to a 4-0 lead with four solid hits and one walk in the first inning. The Huskies also scored twice in the sixth inning.
Engstrom lead off the fourth with a single, stole second and scored on a ground out by Blake for Superior's first run.
In the fifth, Swanson singled, stole second and scored on Sitek's single. Sitek then scored on Engstrom's RBI single.
In the sixth, Blake singled and stole second and Wilander singled. Pinch hitter Archambault singled off the glove of the third baseman and Blake was thrown out trying to score. Manion walked with two outs and Sitek's double scored Wilander and Archambault.
"In hindsight, I never should have sent Blake on that play," SHS coach Don Dembroski said. "Their shortstop did a nice job of backing up the play and picking up that ball before it could sneak into the outfield."
Superior was then retired 1-2-3 in the seventh on three strikeouts by reliever Trevor Madson, whose save sealed sophomore Matt Prosek's first career win. Prosek scattered six hits and struck out five in five innings for the Huskies.
SPARTAN SPIN: The Spartan JV lost to ECN 10-6 and 5-1. Dan Tracy started and went five innings in the first game. He struck out three and walked one while allowing eight hits, including four runs in the first inning. Kellen McCoshen pitched the final two innings, striking out two and walking two. Jordan Olson hit a three-run home run in the first inning for the Spartans, and McCoshen, Neil Baltes and Justin Andrews each added doubles. In the second game, Mike Higgins went the distance for the Spartans. He struck out two and walked two while allowing five unearned runs. The Spartans had only three hits, one each from Olson, Baltes and Eric Berger. The Spartan JV end the season with a 9-10 record.
