In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.
June 6, 1995
By Devlyn Brooks
Going into Wednesday's game against the second-seeded Bagley Flyers, Head Coach Brad Nash knew his Warrior baseball team would have to play good defense to win. he said that the Warriors were facing one of the best pitchers in the section, and that he knew that his team would need quality at-bats to have a chance to move onto the sub-section championship.
His team responded well getting 16 hits and turning three double plays in the field. the Warriors defeated the Flyers, placing them in the sub-section championship game against first-seeded Roseau who entered with only one loss.
The Warriors did not fair as well in their second game. According to Nash, the team didn't play as sharp defensively, and they made some mental mistakes that cost them.
Although the Warriors may have come in second in the sub-section, this was good enough to earn them a spot in the section playoffs held in Warroad June 5 and 6.
Warriors 10 Flyers 8
The Warriors looked to be off to a good start in the first inning when Willy Marvin smacked a double over the right fielder's head. He then advanced to third on a Wyatt Smith ground out. However, Marvin was left on third when Nick Stodgell struck out.
The Flyers picked up two runs in their half of the inning to lead 2 to 0 after one.
In the bottom of the second inning, with a man on second base, the Flyers tried dropping a bunt to move their man on second to third. However, the ball popped up and Warrior pitcher Todd Morin was there to make the catch. He then turned and threw out the Flyer on second who was caught off guard. The Warrior fans in attendance were ignited.
In the third, the Warriors struck back with three runs, and the Flyers picked up another, leaving the Warriors in front 4 to 3 going into the fourth inning.
The Warriors would never lose the lead again, but could not shake the pesky Flyers either. Warroad needed all seven innings to defeat the Flyers.
The middle innings were quiet, with only one run being scored. The Warriors picked up that run, their fifth, in the top of the fourth.
The dam seemed to break for both teams in the sixth and seventh innings. The teams scored 10 runs between them.
In the sixth, Warrior Chad Furuseth was moved to third on a Marvin single. Smith then flied out to centerfield, sacrificing Furuseth home and Marvin to third. Marvin later scored on a passed ball.
In the Flyer half of the sixth, they answered with two runs of their own. The Flyers hit a deep double into centerfield, bringing in the two runs. This prompted Nash to bring Rocky Rybolt in to relieve Morin on the mound. The Warriors escaped the rest of the inning without damage.
In the seventh, Nash's Warriors had another good inning, scoring three. Two of the runs came off of consecutive doubles by the Warriors.
Everything looked to be wrapped up by the Warriors, when the Flyers fought back, scoring three in the seventh. They fell two runs short though, and the Warriors moved onto the Sub-section 8-4 championship game.
Warriors 0 Rams 11
Nash said that his team committed a few more mental mistakes in their second game, and that "it is hard to bounce back against a good team like that." They didn't bounce back at all. He was correct; his team didn't bounce back.
The Warriors bench was excited as they led off in the championship game. However, a Wyatt Smith single was all the Warriors could muster. This would also be one of the two Warrior hits all game.
First-seeded Roseau didn't do much better in their half of the first, also coming up with no runs.
Warroad was held scoreless in the second.
In the bottom of the second, the Warriors committed one of those mental errors that Nash spoke about. With men on second and third, the Rams bunted, bringing one man home and putting the other on third. To add insult to injury, when the pitcher turned to throw the ball to first to at least get the bunter, no one was covering the bag. He was safe also.
To cap Roseau's assault in the second, Andy Jensen hit a two-run homerun over the right field wall.
After the second was all said and done, the Rams had scored seven off of four hits.
The Warriors remained scoreless in the third and fourth.
During the Ram's half of the fourth, Warroad's misery just got worse. they gave up another three runs, and Andy Jensen almost hit his second homerun of the day. It was caught deep in centerfield.
The Warriors' luck just wouldn't improve, either.
Thinking that they had just nailed a Roseau base stealer at second that would have ended the inning, the Warriors started walking to the bench. To their dismay, the umpire informed them that he had called ball four on the batter, which meant that the runner was safe at second base anyway. This is how their luck went the entire game.
After four innings, the score was Roseau 11 to 0 over Warroad. That is how the game would end.
"When you don't play defense well and don't hit well," Nash said, "you're going to have a tough day at the field."
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