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Rain, sleet, snow and wind all add up to several postponements for the Eagles Baseball team this year. A handful of seniors are leading a young group of Eagles on another quest to return to the final four of the Section for the fifth time in the last six seasons under Head Coach Tim Vagle.

Seniors Kevin Murphy and Devin Mulligan return for their fourth season on the varsity and are joined by Senior Matt Johnson in his second year of varsity action and the return to baseball by Senior Luke Jepson. Sophomore Patrick Kemper starts his second year on the varsity and is joined by fellow sophomores Taylor Smith and Jordan Tabaka. Freshman on the team are; Zach Nornberg, who saw limited action last year and will be counted on to play several positions this season and Austin Likens manning second base. Several Junior High players may be called upon throughout the season to fill out the roster.

The Junior High team is coached by second year veteran Ben Kinser and consists of; Evan Daudt (8); Tyler Daudt (8); Gary Gross (8); Jarod Stefan (8); Justin Wicks (8); Tim Wolter (8); Marcus Woods (8); Zach Carney (7); Logan Gross (7); David Helmer (7); Michael Johnson (7); Dustin Sepin (7); Frankie Smith (7); Zach Greene (6); Grant Hofius (6) and Cooper Kovall (6).

The boys started the season on a positive swing as they downed Nashwauk-Keewatin 5 to 4.[[In-content Ad]]

Kevin Murphy went the distance on the mound, giving up seven hits and striking out 11.

"Some timely hits and aggressive base running got us an early lead and Murphy pitched around base runners effectively to earn us a conference win. Eighth grader Evan Daudt singled up the middle to drive in two runs that proved the difference in the game," commented Coach Vagle.

Hard work on defense made the difference when Littlefork-Big Falls came to town. The Eagles sank the Vikings 3 to 2.

"We spent the week leading up to this game working on first and third situations and it paid off as two of our three runs scored on stolen base plays and we stopped a Viking rally when Sr. Devin Mulligan picked a runner off at third. Fresh. Zach Nornberg started on short notice and pitched well, Murphy came on in relief to get the win and Evan Daudt again drove in the game winning run. 2-0 start to conference play gives us a chance at finishing first in quite a long time." Said Coach Vagle.

The boys hit the road to take on an experienced Mercs team and came up short for the first time this season 2 to 4.

"The first road trip matched the young Eagles with a seasoned McGregor team. Murphy pitched a complete game and we just couldn't get the big hit with men on base. Soph. Taylor Smith, seeing his first action of the season drove in both runs with a late game single. Murphy and Fresh. Austin Likens both had a pair of hits on the day," said Coach Vagle.

Defensive struggles put the Eagles down early as they hosted Pequot Lakes and posted their second season loss, 7 to 14.

"Devin Mulligan started the game on the hill which put a few people in new positions and we struggled with errors and not quite getting to some batted balls we should have. Devin did what we ask of our pitchers and that is throw strikes and make the other team beat us by hitting the ball, the guys know we can't give the other team extra outs and are working on cleaning things up as the season goes along. Seniors Murphy and Mulligan both stung the ball and collected three hits each. Matt Johnson added a pair and Evan Daudt continues to be an RBI machine driving in two runners," commented Coach Vagle.

Despite the Eagles initial conference success, Floodwood would post the Eagles third loss in a row 9 to 2.

"Floodwood returns all but one pitcher from a team that was one out from the state tournament last year and is one of the favorites this year in the section. Zach Nornberg got the nod on the hill and pitched effectively keeping the Polar Bear's hitters popping up and pounding the ball into the ground...unfortunately we didn't support him with good defense leading to seven unearned runs. Murphy led the hitting attack with two hits and Evan Daudt drove in another run. Those two have hit safely in all five games so far this season. Nothing replaces experience when it comes to baseball and we are seeing improvement each game, with each game our young guys are learning how to field and run the bases aggressively like we have always done. Stop out and see us, we may not be big but we play hard and compete every inning," concluded Coach Vagle.

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