Section 7AA Softball Playoffs Begin

May 22, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

There were no real surprises on Tuesday in Section 7AA softball play as all the top seeds advance with the exception of the number four seeded Greenway Raiders, who fell to the number five Hibbing Bluejackets by a score of 12-6 Tuesday afternoon in Greenway.

Hibbing avenged an early season loss to the Raiders as the Bluejackets pick up the six run win and advance to face the Mora Mustangs who advanced to the quarterfinals with an 11-1 win over the Aitkin Gobblers. Hibbing lost to Greenway 9-4 in their second game of the season.

The Esko Eskomos were winners also on Tuesday as the Eskomos shut out the Pine City Dragons by a score of 10-0 in Esko. The five inning shutout victory was the third shutout of the season for Esko, who improves to 13-8 with the win.

The Eskomos will face either International Falls of Virginia whose game was rained out Tuesday afternoon in Virginia. The Blue Devils and the Broncos are scheduled to play on Wednesday. Virginia defeated the Broncos in their only meeting by a score of 18-4.

The Cloquet Lumberjacks picked up a five inning 13-0 victory on Tuesday over the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels at Braun Park in Cloquet. The Lumberjacks pick up the big win as they had lost six of their last nine games. Cloquet will have the chore of trying to upset the #1 seeded Section 7AA champion Hermantown Hawks, who had a bye in their opening round match up.

The Proctor Rails and the Two Harbors Agates will meet on Thursday as the number two and three seeds will meet for the second time this season. The Agates defeated Crosby-Ironton by a score of 10-0 and Proctor got past Eveleth-Gilbert by a score of 5-2. Two Harbors beat Proctor in their only meeting of the season by a score of 7-2.

Hermantown and Cloquet will play at 3:00 pm in Cohasset on Thursday. Esko and the International Falls – Virginia winner all also play at 3:00 pm. Proctor and Two Harbors are slated to play at 5:00 pm, and the other 5:00 pm match up will feature Hibbing and Mora. The quarterfinal winners will play in a double elimination tournament beginning next Tuesday in Cloquet at Braun Park.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com