ML-WR Captures Third Straight Polar League Crown

May 25

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

Michael Unzen started things off well for the Rebels when he belted a home run in his first at bat in the bottom of the first inning to give them an early 1-0 lead.
Unzen crushed the ball outside the park and onto the road past center field. The early first inning blow propelled the Rebels to an 11-0 win over the Barnum Bombers.

Tuesday’s win makes it three consecutive seasons that Moose Lake-Willow River has taken the Polar League championship. The win also matched a feat by the Barnum Bombers girls softball team last week, capturing the Polar League title in all three sports. The Rebels won the Polar League football championship last fall, they took basketball title this winter, and now the baseball title this spring.

Rudy Ketchum was the winning pitcher for the Rebels as he pitched his fourth shutout of the season. Ketchum gave up only four hits, while striking out nine Bombers and only walking one in the eleven-run win. “Rudy pitched another great game today,” head coach Lyle Halverson told Northland Sports Online. “When Rudy’s on, he’s one of the toughest pitchers in the area, and he is always ready to pitch the big games for us.”

The Rebels led 1-0 after one inning and added one more in the second to lead 2-0 after two. The big blow for Barnum was a six-run, bottom of the third inning that extended the Rebels lead to 8-0. Moose Lake-Willow River added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to end the game at their 11-0 victory. “The big six-run third inning is what did Barnum in,” Halverson mentioned. “The 8-0 lead was too much for them to overcome.”

Unzen finished 2-2 on the afternoon with the home run and three runs scored. Adam Ryan was 2-3 with three runs and two runs batted in. Rejean Carlson was 1-2 with two runs scored and Ryan Adamczak was 1-3 with a RBI. Spencer Clough also scored two runs for the Rebels in the win.

The Rebels improve to 14-3 on the season with their ninth straight win. The Rebels will try to make it ten straight when they travel to McGregor on Wednesday to close out its regular season.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com