Proctor Boys Set To Defend Section Title

Wes Vork-NSO

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June 5, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

HERMANTOWN- The Proctor Rails scored five runs in the first inning along with a shutout performance by Ben Nelson to defeat the Hermantown Hawks 9-0 to advance to the Section 7AA championship for the second straight year. Proctor will take on the Cloquet Lumberjacks on Thursday afternoon at Fichtner Field in Hermantown.

After winning the Section 7AA crown last year by coming through the losers bracket, the Rails needed only to win one game to return to the championship game and go into the section finals undefeated. “This win was huge, we wanted to get out in one game and we did that,” Nelson told Northland Sports Online after the game. “We played two games last year up in Hibbing in the heat and it was tough. Being able to go home and rest up for Thursday will be big.”

Although the Rails head into Thursday’s contest needing only one win instead of two like last year, Proctor Head Baseball Coach Kyle Wojtysiak explained their approach to the game won’t change much. “Not really, we will approach it about the same. We told our kids after this game our job isn’t done yet; we still have one to get. Last year we needed to win two, but ultimately you have to win that last one either way.”

The Rails opened up the five run first inning on four hits, a walk and two Hermantown errors as the Rails led 5-0 after one inning. Proctor, who led the section in runs scored per game, averaging 8.8 runs a contest, added their sixth and seventh runs in the top of the second to give Proctor the 7-0 lead.

Proctor added two more runs in the top of the third inning and it was Nelson who set a school record by completing his ninth game in nine starts this season for the win as the Rails shut out the Hawks 9-0. Nelson was the winning pitcher and allowed only four hits on the afternoon. Nelson struck out six and walked none as Hermantown lost only their second game of the season, both of which were to the Rails.

While the Rails may have liked to get the 10th run and close the game out early, they were still happy to be done for the day and have most of their pitching staff available for Thursday. “It would have been nice to get that one run and shorten the game, but we still have two quality pitchers left as well as some other guys that throw for us as well” explained Wojtysiak. “It’s all about saving up arms, which is big. All of the teams in this tournament are quality teams, so pitching is key.”

Nelson not only was near perfect on the pitcher’s mound; he helped his own cause in the batter’s box by going 3-4 on the afternoon including a two run double in the first inning. Evan Scherber added two hits for the Rails and scored a run. Jimmy Merling scored two runs and added a hit for Proctor.

Coach Wojtysiak explained the need for his team to come out strong against the Hawks, who were four players short for game one. “We heard they might be a bit shorthanded. But the one thing we told our kids it doesn’t matter if they are shorthanded, they are still a real good team and we need to take care of our own business. It was good to see our kids do that and put up a big number early .”

Neal Pionk collected two of the four hits for Hermantown Tuesday as he had two singles in the loss. Kevin Folman and Kevin Stocke had the other two hits for Hermantown in the loss. Joe Muench took the loss for Hermantown. The win moves the Rails to 16-6 overall.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com