Spring Sports Soundbites: Jacket, Viking baseball, softball play one game over two days

The Cambridge-Isanti Bluejacket and North Branch Viking baseball and softball teams wound up not only battling against each other last week but also combating a common foe in the form of Mother Nature. Both sports were scheduled to play in Cambridge last Wednesday, May 18, in games that were already rescheduled from early in the season. Additionally, the baseball game was rescheduled a second time to Wednesday, after originally being rescheduled for this upcoming Friday — the day before Memorial Day weekend and at least for C-I, what would have been the last of four-straight days with a game.

Mother Nature, however, decided she wasn’t through with messing up their plans as both games got interrupted shortly after the first pitch by a heavy thunderstorm that delayed the conclusion until multiple days later.

BASEBALL

The Jackets versus Vikings baseball game, which started at 4:30, was able to get through two innings when, in the top of the third, a lightning bolt lit up the sky and put a halt to the action. The ensuing two rounds of rain and hail effectively washed away any chances of resuming the game on that field. Before calling it a day, the coaches got together and decided to try and take the game on the road and play at Isanti’s Redbird Field, which had reportedly not been hit as hard. Even before the relocation was completed, another brief downpour quashed those plans.

The next option was to resume the game right where it had been interrupted, at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The result was the Vikings breaking the 1-1 deadlock with two runs and winning 3-1.

The win over C-I culminated an undefeated week for North Branch, with the Vikings also recording a 5-4 win over Princeton and a 3-2 win over Big Lake.

The week was the exact opposite for C-I as the team also lost to Zimmerman 8-3 and Blaine 6-2.

SOFTBALL

That same lightning bolt that stopped the baseball game also interrupted the softball game between the two schools at the top of the first inning. After trying to wait it out inside the high school, it became obvious the softball field would not be playable before it got too dark. That game was suspended until Friday afternoon.

Once it resumed, C-I took a 1-0 lead, but then saw the visiting Vikings plate 11 unanswered runs for an 11-1, five-inning win.

As it turned out, that victory was the highlight of the week for North Branch as earlier in the week the Vikings were shut out by Chisago Lakes 5-0 and they lost to Cloquet 7-2. They did also end their regular season with a 4-1 win over Blaine.

For the Section 7AAA tournament, North Branch received the #4 seed and will host #5 Hibbing on Thursday, May 26. Ironically, if the Vikings lose to Hibbing, they receive a second round bye in the double-elimination tournament since there are only seven teams in the section. A win would pit them against #1 seed Hermantown on Saturday, May 28 in Cloquet.

The Jackets completed their regular season with a 13-10 win over Big Lake and an 11-5 loss to Princeton before their loss to North Branch. C-I was given the #6 seed in Section 7AAAA and will face #3 seed Anoka on Thursday, May 26. 

BOYS TENNIS

Section play has started for both schools. C-I, which was given the #5 seed, played St. Francis in the opening round of the Section 7AA team tournament, beating the Saints 6-1. They next faced Forest Lake, where they avenged their loss to the Rangers just a week ago with a 4-3 victory. C-I will now face the #1 seeded Duluth East in the section semifinals on Tuesday, May 31 in Blaine.

Individually, the Jackets had two advance to the semifinals. Freshman Keagen Lowman was given the #4 seed in singles play and easily won his two matches last Saturday after receiving a first-round bye. He will play the section #1 seed from Forest Lake on Thursday, May 26. The Jacket doubles team of Alex Magnuson and Erik Kindem also received the #4 seed and also has advanced to the section semifinals. They too will face the #1 seed, a doubles team from Duluth East on Thursday.

North Branch’s team season came to an end with a 6-1 loss to Totino Grace in the opening round of the Section 6A tournament. Their individual tournament is scheduled for Friday, May 27.

TRACK AND FIELD

The North Branch girls team finished in 10th place out of 12 schools at the State Class AA True Team meet last week. Their top finisher was Lauren Hicks, who came in third in the shot put.

The Jackets competed in the Sauk Rapids-Rice Triangular last week against the Storm and Brainerd, where the boys earned eight first-place finishes and the girls earned nine firsts. Both North Branch and C-I were scheduled to compete in the Mississippi8 Conference Meet on Wednesday, however that was postponed to Thursday due to rain.

BOYS GOLF

Both the Vikings and Jackets competed at Purple Hawk and Grand National last week. At the Hawk, North Branch came in sixth out of eight teams and the Jackets came in seventh. At Grand National, C-I came in 12th out of 15 teams and North Branch came in 14th.

GIRLS GOLF

Both schools competed in the same meets last week as well, with them teeing off at Bulrush and Princeton. At the Princeton meet, North Branch finished in third place out of eight teams, with the Jackets finishing in fourth. 

At Bulrush, which also was a Mississippi8 meet, the Jackets finished in third place and the Vikings finished in sixth.