Elk Mound defeats Colfax and Glenwood City, Vikings drop game to Spring Valley
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DOUBLE PLAY — Colfax shortstop Caden Erickson fired a threw to first base after stepping on second to get the force out on a sliding Ryan Bartig (#30) of Elk Mound. Erickson completed the double play during a conference baseball game in Elk Mound Thursday, May 20. The Mounders rallied for an 8-4 win. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
After beating Colfax 11-0 in the first game of the season back in late April, the Mounders took it to the Vikings again with an 8-4 win Thursday, May 20 in Elk Mound.
In Monday, May 17 contests, Elk Mound trampled the Glenwood City Hilltoppers 16-1, while the Vikings were shut out by Spring Valley 8-0.
The Mounders improved to 6-2 in conference and overall with the two wins while Colfax fell to 2-5 in the D-SC and 2-8 overall.
The Vikings played a doubleheader in Plum City Monday and came home the next day to host Glenwood City. They then have to travel to Boyceville to face the unbeaten Bulldogs on Thursday, then return from a short Memorial Day holiday break to play in Mondovi next Tuesday, June 1.
The Mounders, meanwhile, hosted Mondovi on Monday and went to Spring Valley on Tuesday and will be in Durand on Thursday. Then on June 1, they will play Elmwood/Plum City at Elk Mound Village Park.
Colfax vs. Elk Mound
LINED UP FOR A HIT — Colfax’s Bryce Sikora was on target to lace this early-game pitch for one of the Vikings four hits against Elk Mound in a Dunn-St. Croix Conference baseball contest played at Village Park in Elk Mound May 20. Sikora also scored two of Colfax’s four runs. The Vikings took a 3-0 lead in the first inning but the Mounders rallied for an 8-4 victory. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Things were looking pretty good for the Vikings for the first inning and a half after they scored three runs in the first.
Bryce Sikora started the rally with a base hit off Mounder hurler Ryan Bohl, then Drew Gibson drew a walk, and Caden Erickson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bohl struck out the next Viking but issued free passes to Dylan Hiitola and Mitch Medin to bring in two runs. Mason Yarrington smacked a single to bring in the third run before Bohl retired the next two batters to end the inning.
THE MOUNDERS’ Kaden Russo put this pitch into the outfield for his only hit in a May 20 home game against Colfax.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
Elk Mound picked up two runs in the bottom of the second when, with two outs coming from a Colfax double play, Carter Vieth walked and Ethan Johnson, Bohl, and Nate Lew all slammed base hits. Viking pitcher Sikora forced a ground out to get out of the inning without any further damage.
Sikora began having control problems in the third, walking three batters with a single by Joseph Javanovich in the mix. With two outs, Gibson came in to relieve Sikora and was greeted rather rudely by Bohl, who banged a base hit. Lew took a walk, Jerome Delikowski was plunked by a pitch, and Kaanta drew another walk. Gibson got the third out on a fly ball, but the Mounders had sent four runners home by this time and led 6-3.
Colfax continued to battle and with two outs in the top of the fourth, Sikora reached on a Mounder error, stole second and was driven in by Gibson on a base hit. Bohl again found his groove though and the threat ended with a grounder to third baseman Javanovich.
The Mounders finished off their scoring with two runs in the fifth, all starting with two outs again. Lew started with a walk, Delikowski singled, Kaanta drew another base on balls, and Kaden Russo singled up the middle. A pop fly to first got the Vikings back to the dugout without any further damage.
Russo came in to pitch the final three innings for the Mounders and breezed through the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up a two-out double in the seventh to Hunter Rebak but put the game away with a ground ball out to first base.
Bohl was credited with the win, allowing three hits with four runs on six strikeouts with three walks in four innings. Sikora absorbed the loss, allowing six runs with seven walks and seven hits.
Bohl had a pair of hits with three RBIs, while the Vikings had four players with one hit and four with one RBI each.
Spring Valley vs. Colfax
The inability to put the bat on the ball proved to be the downfall for the Vikings as they collected just four hits while striking out 13 times against Cardinal pitcher Michael Bauer in an 8-0 loss to Spring Valley May 17.
The three Colfax seniors combined for all four of the hits with Gibson going 2-for-3 and Erickson and Rebak each getting one hit.
The Vikings gave up three runs in the first inning but had a chance to even things up in the bottom of the inning after putting runners on first and second. But, instead of coming up with a timely hit, a double play ground ball ended the threat.
Colfax had bases loaded in the seventh but a fly ball, a ground out, and a strikeout ended the game.
Erickson threw the first six innings, taking the loss with five hits, five strikeouts, and three walks. Sikora came in for the final inning and shut the Cardinals down, whiffing one batter.
Elk Mound vs. Glenwood City
The Hilltoppers have been struggling to win ball games the last few years and the Mounders certainly took advantage of this fact when they pounded 16 hits in the contest.
They scored early with two runs in the first, four in the second, single runs in the third and fifth then made sure there would be no comeback by Glenwood City with a bust out eight run sixth to win 16-1 in last Monday’s contest.
Kaanta picked up three hits including a double for the Mounders with three RBIs and scored a run while Russo also slammed three hits and came home three times. Aidan Balts, Brett Rosenthal, Johnson, Lew and Delikowski all smacked two hits each with Johnson sending one over the fence, and Lew and Russo having a two bagger. Johnson, Lew, and Delikowski all had a pair of RBIs, and Balts and Rosenthal both brought in a run.
Kaanta threw four innings and gave up the Toppers’ only run, striking out five batters with four hits. Russo finished it off, whiffing five Toppers in two innings.