---

The first round of the Section 8A Baseball Tournament started on Tuesday, May 28 as the Eagles travelled to Kelliher to take on the #4 seeded Northome -Kelliher Mustangs. Last season ended on the same field with a disappointing loss to the Mustangs.

The Eagles, a #5 East seed, were ready to play and struck quickly, getting two in the first and one in the second. The Mustangs hung close and battled back to a 4-4 tie going into the 6th, when the Eagles notched another run and held on for the 5-4 victory. Once again errors plagued the team as they committed eight during the contest, but Zak Nornberg pitched a brilliant game and worked around the miscues and earned the victory for the Eagles.

Leading the well balanced attack for the Eagles were Logan Gross (3-5) and Justin Wicks (2-2 & 2 BB), with all but 2 batters getting at least 1 hit during the game.

Eagles- 5 10 8 (Runs, Hits, Errors)

Northome 4 6 2

By winning and advancing to the next round, the Eagles travelled to Bemidji to face the #1 seed Blackduck Drakes on Thursday, May 30 for a 9:00 a.m. contest.

The Drakes capitalized on walks and errors in two separate innings as they handled the Eagles 12-2 in five innings, scoring five in the first and seven in the fourth. Starter Austin Likens took the loss on this morning as his usual control of the strike zone was just a bit off. Gary Gross came in to relieve after the first and pitched well until the fourth when control issues and errors once again hit the boys.

Offensively the Eagles managed only four hits in the game with Logan Gross (2-3) leading the way.

Eagles- 2 4 4

Blackduck- 12 6 1

With the loss the Eagles fell into the losers bracket of the double elimination tournament and played the #3 seeded Lake of the Woods Bears. After playing the first game at 9:00 a.m. the eagles had to wait around until just after 6:00 pm to get this one started.

Once again the Eagles started quickly and scored two on the top of first and one in the second to take a 3-0 lead. That would be all the runs Nornberg would need on the night as he pitched a 3-hit shutout of the Bears, striking out 10.

Defensively the Eagles were tough behind him when they did make contact as only one error was committed.

Offensively the Eagles were stymied by the Bear pitcher as they only collected three hits but were helped by the eight walks in the game, most in the early innings. Logan Gross, Gary Gross and Patrick Kemper each had a hit.

Eagles- 3 3 1

LOW- 0 3 1

Next up for the Eagles is Norman County on Tuesday, June 4 in Thief River Falls at 11:00 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]

---