Bad inning finishes off Vikings

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

The game of baseball, or even softball for that matter, can spin an unpredictable tale at times. The Onaway softball was down to its last at bats and came from five down to force extra innings and eventually win their game. The Posen baseball team found itself in a similar situation, down by five in the bottom of the fifth inning. They started their comeback much earlier, but their fate would be far different.

Nathan Lenard’s RBI single and Justin LaPointe?s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, just prior to the umpires spotting lightning in the distance, put Posen right back in the ball game.

With Hillman leading by only two runs, 5-3, it looked like head coach Pat Kowalski’s squad was poised to come up with a little post season magic of their own. Unfortunately, the Vikings found not a dash of pixy dust. It was more like splinters. Hillman erupted for 13 runs in the top of the sixth inning to lock up their place in the district final. They used two, bases clearing triples in the inning to hand Posen an 18-3 loss.

The defense and pitching was not sharp in the early part of the inning, which opened the flood gates to the point that not even Walt Disney himself could have come up with a happy ending to this ballgame. EARLIER IN the contest, Posen’s defense, led by senior catcher Aaron Romel, was spot on. He threw out the first base runner of the game trying to steal second. The inning ended on a terrific diving catch of a pop-up by Shane Hentkowski in foul territory. In the top of the second, Hillman used a RBI single to score the first run. Posen saved another run from scoring when the ball went to the backstop on a wild pitch. The Hillman broke toward home from third as Romel recovered the ball and threw to Hentkowski who applied the tag.

Neither team threatened until the top of the fifth when Hillman struck for four runs to go up, 5-0. Hentkowski gave up a couple of hits and three walks in the inning. The bottom of the Viking batting order got things going for Posen. With one out, Travis Hirschman singled through the right side. He would come home on Lenard’s liner over the infield to put Posen on the board. Moments later, Lenard trotted home on LaPointe’s two-run blast to

right-center field. The umpires came together and suspended play until a storm moved out of the area. It would be an hour before play would resume.

The Vikings would continue the inning with one out. Tyson Klecha and Romel walked to put two runners aboard with two down, but the threat ended when Klecha was caught trying to steal third. The bottom of the sixth started innocent enough with a grounder to LaPointe at second, but that is when the wheels came off. The next seven Hillman runners would get on and score. Only one Posen runner got on in the bottom of the sixth, so the mercy rule came into play.

The Vikings final record was 16-13. They finished second in the North Star League standings. With only one starting senior graduating, and a good crop of promising young pitchers, the Vikings should be right near the top for the next few seasons.