June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Good pitching key to early season start
After holding the Mercs scoreless in the top of the 1st inning, the boys came back in bottom of half of the inning to plate 3 runs. The Mercs pitcher would not allow another run the rest of the game. The Eagles countered with starting pitcher Austin Likens pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to Justin Wicks who would pitch 2-1/3 innings and hold the a slim lead of 3-2 with 2 outs in 7th before Zak Nornberg came in to nail down the save as the Eagles pulled out a 3-2 victory.
The three combined on a 1-hitter but walks and hit batsmen kept the Mercs in the game.
Offensively, Likens and Wicks were both 2-3, with Wicks knocking in 2 and Nornberg with 1 RBI.
McGregor- 000 001 1 - 2
Eagles- 300 000 X - 3
Tuesday, April 22 also had the Eagles at home versus the Nashwauk Keewatin Spartans. Nornberg went the distance allowing 2 earned runs, while striking out 6 in the hard fought 5-4 victory.
Offensively the Eagles pounded out 13 hits as Marcus Woods and Austin Likens both went 3-4 with Woods collecting a pair of doubles. Zak Nornberg 2-3, 3 RBI and Evan Daudt 2-4 were also big contributors during the game.
Spartans- 001 030 0 - 4
Eagles- 002 030 X - 5
Saturday had the Eagles travelling to Deer River for the Warrior Invitational. A 9:30 a.m. matchup against Hill City saw the game-time temp right around the freezing mark and would make pitching and defense a premium.
Austin Likens took the hill for the Eagles and controlled the Hornets batters throughout, throwing six innings and giving up only 2 hits before giving way to Nornberg to finish up the final inning, for a 6-0 win.
The Eagle bats were kept very silent also as they could only manage three hits and seven walks. Aggressive base running and timely errors contributed to the Eagles offense. Wicks, Likens and Dustin Sepin each collected a hit for the game.
Eagles- 210 020 1 - 6
Hornets- 000 000 0 - 0
After winning the early game the Eagles would play the host Warriors for the tournament championship.
A quick 2-0 start in top of first was erased by Deer River in the bottom of first and the game headed to the second knotted at 2-2. The Eagles responded in a big way, as Dustin Sepin, Michael Johnson and Tyler Daudt all reached base to start the inning and scored as the Eagles pushed across four to take a 6-2 lead and take control of the game.
Nornberg would pitch a complete game and needed only 82 pitches to gain the victory. A line drive that shortstop Austin Likens made a great attempt on was ruled a hit, the only hit for the Warriors in the game. Some shaky defense led to four warrior runs but this game would be dominated by the Eagle batters as they pounded out 14 hits and walked five times enroute to the 9-4 victory. Likens 3-4, Nornberg 3-4, Dustin Sepin 2-3, Wicks 2-4, Johnson 2-4 Woods 2 RBI, led the attack.
Along with the 4-0 start the Eagles also won the Warrior Tournament for the first time since 2006.
Eagles- 241 020 0 - 9
Warriors- 201 001 0 - 4
Next up for the boys-
Monday 4-28 vs. Littlefork- home
Tuesday April 29 vs Pequot Lakes- away
Thursday May 1 vs Cherry - home
Friday May 2 vs Mountain Iron- Buhl- away
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