ML-WR Boys Down Pine City 9-2

May 20

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MOOSE LAKE- The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels beat the Pine City Dragons 9-2 on Tuesday to set themselves up for next week. The Rebels will face two Polar League rivals this Saturday and next Tuesday. If both games are won, their third straight polar league championship is in place.

“Today’s game is a good test because we want to be playing our best baseball of the year,” head coach Lyle Halverson stated to Northland Sports Online. “We won’t take anyone for granted, but we are trying to obtain our first goal we set and that was the Polar League title.”

The Rebels did just that as they scored nine runs off of eleven hits Thursday; they were also assisted by six Dragon errors. Pine City scored two runs in the second inning. However, the Rebels responded right back with two in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2. Moose Lake-Willow River added one more run in the third inning, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and capped it off with two more runs in the sixth inning for the seven-run win.

Trevor Nummela led the Rebels offensively going 3-4 with a triple, three runs scored and two stolen bases. Rudy Ketchum was 2-4 with a double and two runs batted in. Tyler Huso had two hits and a run batted in. Hayden Hoffman was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven.

The Rebels improve to 10-3 on the season and host the Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers on Saturday morning at 11:00 am. Pine City falls to 4-12 on the season.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com