---

North Branch 11

Mora 9

The North Branch Vikings and the Mora Mustangs slugged it out on Monday, April 25 at North Branch, and when it was all over the Vikings came out on top 11-9 in a Rum River Conference matchup.

The Vikings exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a six run lead, then held off the Mustangs to emerge with the victory.

North Branch got on the board in the first inning as Marty Savage singled and scored on a double by Matt Warren. Warren then scored on a single by Chris Delaney to put the Vikings up 2-0 after one.

Mora tied it up in the top of the third on a single, a walk, and then another single. But the Vikings answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Dominic Stahley singled, Delaney walked, and both moved up a base on a wild pitch. Ed Meier singled to drive in Stahley. After Kyle Kaminski was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Delaney scored on a walk to Justin Novak. But the Mustangs were able to keep the game within reach as they kept the Vikings from adding any more runs to their lead.

It was a big stop because Mora took the lead in the top of the fourth as the Vikings followed a familiar pattern and committed two errors that led to three unearned runs by the Mustangs.

However, the Vikings came charging right back in the bottom of the inning with a seven run barrage. Stahley walked, followed by three straight singles off the bats of Dan Gray, Meier and Jeff Olson. Kaminski walked and Novak reached base on an error before Savage doubled to clear the bases. Starting pitcher Matt Warren helped his own cause with a double of his own to drive in Savage, and the Vikings took what seemed to be a commanding 11-5 lead.

It didn’t stay commanding for long.

Mora came out and scored three runs in the sixth inning on a walk and three base hits, with the big blow being a bases-clearing triple. Trailing by three going into the top of the seventh, the Mustangs scored one run and loaded the bases with two outs. But Stahley, who had replaced Warren in the sixth, was able to induce a grounder. After a close play at first, the Vikings were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the umpire signaled “out” and the Vikings came away with an 11-9 victory. Warren picked up the victory and Stahley got the save in relief.

Vikings Coach Larry Schlagel was happy with several aspects of his team’s second conference victory of the season. “We came out swinging the bats tonight,” said Schlagel. “And Matt Warren pitched an excellent game for us, but we had to pull him in the sixth because he had thrown a lot of pitches and it was very cold out. Stahley came in and threw strikes.

“Mora is an excellent team and we were fortunate to get out of some tough situations,” continued Schlagel. “We had some timely hitting tonight and we took advantage of some mistakes made by Mora. It was nice to see us jump on some mistakes rather than the other way around. Our players needed this one after we had let a game or two slip away from us because of mistakes in the field.”

The win was the second of the year for North Branch, moving their season record to 2-5.

North Branch 11

Zimmerman 1 ( 5 innings)

The North Branch Vikings scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to an 11-1 victory over the Zimmerman Thunder last Thursday. In the process, they stretched their winning streak to two games.

After J.J. Koerber held the Thunder off the scoreboard in the top of the first, the Viking batters went to work. Justin Novak sparked the rally as he reached base on an error, stole second and scored on a double by Matt Warren. Chris Delaney walked. Warren scored on a single by Dan Gray. Delaney and Gray then scored on a single by Ed Meier. Meier later reached second and scored on a single by Kyle Kaminski to make the score Vikings 5, Thunder 1 after one.

Zimmerman scored their only run in the top of the second on an error and a single. The Vikings responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.

North Branch, who scored in every inning, then added two more runs in the third. Kaminski walked, Novak singled and both runners scored courtesy of three wild pitches by the Zimmerman hurler. In the fourth, Gray was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a single by Meier.

Batting with a big lead, the Vikings added to it in the fifth. Erik Frich reached base on a two-base error. Novak singled in Frich and moved up to second as the throw missed the cutoff and went all the way through to home. Novak ended the game as he singled in Warren, which triggered the ten-run rule and made the final score Vikings 11, Thunder 1.

“J.J. Koerber threw very well. He walked only one and forced Zimmerman to put the ball in play. And other than the one error, we made the plays behind him,” said Schlagel. “We were solid defensively tonight and that made a big difference. Offensively, we were led by Matt Warren with three hits and Ed Meier and Justin Novak with two hits apiece.”

The Vikings record climbed to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference. Up next is Foley on Thursday before heading to Brooklyn Center for a tournament this weekend.

---