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By Cynthia Scott
With the score tied at 4-4 and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, it looked like North Branch and Duluth East were headed into extra innings on May 31. But an RBI single off the bat of the Greyhounds' Rob Perreault abruptly brought the game ó and the Vikings' disappointing season‚ ó to an end.
North Branch fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and by the fourth inning found themselves in a 4-0 deficit. But solid hitting by Marty Savage, Matt Warren and Dominic Stahley in the fourth inning cut the Duluth East lead to 4-2. North Branch tied the game on a Stahley RBI in the sixth, but could not get over the hump for the victory.
North Branch ends the season with a 6-5 conference record and 7-13 record overall.
Warren and Savage were named to the Rum River All-Conference team, with honorable mentions going to Ed Meier and Dan Gray.
Warren hit .343 in conference play and .373 overall, while Savage went .351 and .313. Other team batting leaders were Gray and Jeff Olson at .323. Warren had the team's best ERA at 1.96, followed by J.J. Koerber at 3.17.
Brian Pose was named the winner of the Viking Award.
"Are we disappointed in the season? Some. I don't think we played up to our ability levels night in and night one. We lost numerous games because of our inability to finish off an inning and allowing our opponent extra outs to work with," said Coach Larry Schlagel. "We have things to continue to work on and we are going to continue to get better. The more the boys play this summer it will only help."
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