ML-WR Falls In Section 7AA Playoffs

June 3

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels comeback came up a hair short Thursday afternoon as the Hermantown Hawks ended the Rebels boys’ baseball season and advanced in the Section 7AA playoffs. The Hawks defeated the Rebels by a score of 8-7 in nine innings.

The Rebels had battled back in the game after jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. It was the Hawks who scored seven second inning runs to take a five run lead. The Rebels refused to quit though, battling back to cut the lead to 7-5 and eventually tying the game at 7-7.

“We had our chances,” head coach Lyle Halverson told Northland Sports Online. “These are great kids and it is sad to see it end.” The Hawks scored the winning run on a Rebel error in the bottom of the ninth inning. “It was nice to prove that we can play with the bigger schools in our section, and with a break here or there we could have moved on in the playoffs.”

The Rebels had four players with two hits each in the loss; Hayden Hoffman, Abe Young, Rudy Ketchum, and Trevor Nummela. The Rebels season comes to an end with an overall record of 15-4, capturing the Polar League champion title for the third straight season.

Jake Olson was the winning pitcher for Hermantown, who now faces Cloquet in the game of unbeatens in the Section 7AA double elimination tournament. Adam Kruse scored two runs in the win. Hermantown defeated Mora in their second game of the day by a score of 6-5. Brian LeBlanc was 3-3 with three runs batted in.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com