HHS 9 beats Thunderhawks in 9 innings

HIBBING—Jay Wetzel has been coaching the Hibbing High School baseball team for 15 seasons, and there’s one thing missing from his résumé—win over Grand Rapids.

Wetzel can finally put that behind him as the Bluejackets got a bases-loaded infield single in the bottom of the ninth inning to score the game-winning run in a 6-5 victory over the Thunderhawks Monday at Al Nyberg Field.

Even during Hibbing’s state-tournament run in 2017, they didn’t have to play Grand Rapids, which was in Class 4A at the time.

“We’ve played good games with them, but we’ve always found ways to be on the wrong side of things,” Wetzel said. “There were moments today when we thought we would be there again, the seventh inning was an example of that.

“The guys had good composure even though some things didn’t go well. At moments, we were able to keep our composure.”

Hibbing was on the wrong end again in the first inning as the Thunderhawks started fast as Nolan Svatos singled, then Caleb Gunderson was hit by a pitch.

An error moved both runners up a base, then Jake Garski hit a sacrifice fly. Kyler Miller would hit a sacrifice fly to give Grand Rapids that early lead.

“Rapids runs well. They bunt well,” Wetzel said. “They’re going to put a lot of pressure on you if you allow baserunners. Allowing baserunners is one of the first things we did in this game.

“We were able to minimize the damage. We didn’t give up many big innings, aside from the two in the first. That’s pretty cool.”

This time, Hibbing was able to respond, taking advantage of two Thunderhawk errors in the first inning to score two runs.

Brayden Rewertz reached on an error, then Tait Swanson walked. A passed ball moved them up a base, then Rewertz scored on a wild pitch.

Luke Nelson drove home the second run when he reached on an error.

“In the bottom of the first, that was huge,” Wetzel said. “Now, you’re just playing baseball after that. We’re starting to see this team come around a bit. We played solid defense, and we pitched well, it was a matter of finding enough offense.

“We did.”

The Thunderhawks took advantage of a walk to Easton Sjostrand in the second. He was sacrificed to second, then scored when Jameson Duell doubled.

Grand Rapids went up 4-2 in the fourth when Broberg singled, was sacrificed to second. He took third on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Oliver Spahn.

The Bluejackets responded with a three-run fourth inning to take their first lead of the game.

Jace Kampsula doubled and moved to third on a single by Kody Birmes. Gavin Kampula would score on an error, then Lamphere singled home a run to tie it 4-4.

Drew Forer reached on an error, and he was moved to third. He would score on a Swanson fielder’s-choice ground ball to give the Bluejackets the lead.

Hibbing held that lead until the seventh inning when the Thunderhawks got the tying run.

With one out, Ari Lamppa was hit by a pitch, but he was forced out at second by Duell, who reached third on an errant pick-off attempt. He scored on a wild pitch to tie it 5-5.

“Two outs, runner on first, you’re thinking, ‘We’ve got some options,” Wetzel said. “All of a sudden, an errant pick play puts a guy on third. That’s how they set it up to have a chance to score.

“You don’t exactly want to walk right into it. It was self-inflicted there, but we were able to handle that.”

Ryder Petrie worked seven innings on the mound for Hibbing, giving up four hits. He struck out two.

He gave way to Birmes in the eighth, who allowed two baserunners, but each time, he got out of those innings unscathed.

“We had some wiggles and conversations as to whether we should intentionally walk different guys or not,” Wetzel said. “Ultimately, we decided not to, and Kody did a great job pitching to the guys at the plate.

“Defensively, we were able to find those outs. We made some nice plays, especially with Tait going to the fence and making a catch against the fence. Overall, with a couple of hiccups defensively, we were solid.”

The Bluejackets had a quiet eighth, but in the ninth, Edric Cardona hit a pop-fly single down the left field line, then Rewertz laid down a sacrifice bunt that he beat out for a base hit.

Swanson bunted, but the relay to third was not in time, loading the bases.

With a drawn-in infield, Grand Rapids’ pitcher Caleb Gunderson struck out the next hitter, but Kaden Augustine lined a single that went off the glove of the Thunderhawk shortstop. He couldn’t recover in time as Cardona scored the winning run.

“It’s high school baseball, but with bases loaded, nobody out and with three hitter at the plate, you’re feeling comfortable,” Wetzel said. “If our three hitter doesn’t do it, our fourth hitter will.

“We talked to Luke and Kaden going into those at bats. Luke took a couple of good hacks, then Kaden was able to step up and hit a ball hard when we needed him to win the game.”

Birmes got the win, tossing two innings of one-hit ball.

“Tip your hat to Ryder,” Wetzel said. “He threw seven great innings, and the same thing with Kody. He came in in some tight situations. He didn’t bend when things could have definitely flipped on us.”

Miller started for the Thunderhawks, working six innings, giving up three hits and striking out four. Gunderson worked 2.1 innings. He gave up three hits, striking out two.”