Extra Innings Again For The Rebels And Bombers

Apr 17

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels and the Barnum Bombers must have been thinking “Oh-no here we go again” because similar situations had recently happened to both teams heading in to extra innings.

The Bombers lost to Esko in extra innings when they had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 7th inning. The Rebels, on the other hand, came back after being down to Esko on Tuesday only to see their chances of winning slip away. This time, it was the Rebels doing the right things on the diamond, coming away with a 13-9 win in Barnum on Friday afternoon.

This rivalry match up on Friday was an exciting battle the entire game, with the Rebels picking up their second win of the season. Exciting as the game was, a lot of mistakes were made by both teams. There were 11 errors committed by both teams, 13 total walks, 5 batters hit by pitches, 11 wild pitches and 6 pass balls.

The Rebels got on the scoreboard first, putting two runs across in the top of the first. Barnum responded right back with six runs in the bottom of the first inning to grab an early 6-2 lead after one. Barnum scored the six runs on 6 hits and three Rebel errors.

The Rebels got one run back in the second when Tyler Huso scored off of a RBI single from Michael Unzen. This cut the score to 6-3. Barnum added a run in the fourth inning when Donnie Saarela scored on a fielder’s choice by Justin Newman. The Rebels fought back in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 7-7, scoring 3 runs on only one hit in the inning. Two walks and two batters hit by pitches and a double by Unzen tied this game up.

The Bombers had yet another chance to win the game and pick up the first win of the season. However, after loading the bases in the bottom of the inning with no outs, it was Unzen that came in to relieve Hayden Hoffman on the mound. Unzen delivered by throwing twelve pitches that inning and struck out the side, leaving Barnum a little stunned as their golden opportunity went by the wayside.

The Rebels sealed the game in the top of the eighth inning by scoring six runs on six hits, and two Bomber errors put them ahead 13-7. Barnum rallied in the bottom of the inning and added two runs, but could not get any more across the plate. Unzen was the winning pitcher for Moose Lake-Willow River and Jacob Naslund took the loss for the Bombers.

The Rebels are in action again on Tuesday at Floodwood and improve to 2-1. The Bombers fall to 0-4 on the season and take on Cherry at the Metrodome Saturday. Barnum will also face AlBrook at home on Monday.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com