The Viking baseball team lost both games to St. Norbert in a double header May 4. The team lost the first game 15-1, with the only run coming in the sixth inning when junior Eric Bohling singled to bring in sophomore Davide Harris. After this horrible loss, the men came out swinging in the next game. In the second inning, sophomore Phil Wisniewski started things off by getting on base by an error.
Sophomore Mike Baldino was walked and sophomore Tanner DeBettencour had a single. Freshman Darvis PridGeon had a sacrifice fly to bring home Wisniewski. Freshman Luke Barthelmess was walked, and sophomore Alex Brewer had a sacrifice fly to bring home Baldino. Senior Wisniewski had another chance at bat and he hit a single to bring home Harris. The Vikings scored a total of seven runs in the second inning. But after the second inning, they just couldn’t connect the ball to the bat and keep the momentum going. Sadly, seven runs in one inning wasn’t enough for the win, and the Vikings lost 8-7.
Last weekend, the Vikings played their final opponent of the season, Carroll, in two double headers. Game one was a close one. Carroll scored one run in the second inning and our Vikings matched that when Harris was walked and then stole second base. Sophomore Richie Foreman’s sacrifice fly brought Harris home. The Vikings allowed another run for Carroll in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, Bohling doubled and Harris singled. Freshman Sam Kossow had a sacrifice fly that brought Bohling across the plate. Carroll came back with three more runs in the sixth inning and one more in the ninth. The Vikings had to come out strong if they wanted to keep this one alive.
Wisniewski started off the ninth inning with a single and freshman Dan Salzbrenner got on base by an error from Carroll. Barthelmess was hit by the pitch and Brewer scored to bring home Salzbrenner and Wisniewski. Harris singled to bring home freshman Josh Graber, who was pinch running for Brewer at the time, as well as to bring home Barthelmess. These last-ditch efforts weren’t enough and, sadly, the Vikings fell short yet again, losing 7-6 to Carroll. In the second game of the day, they couldn’t build off of their momentum of the earlier game’s ninth. The Vikings only scored three runs to Carroll’s seven.
After coming close so many times in the past few days, the Vikings were due for a big win. It was also Senior Day, and they wanted their two seniors, Andrew Wilt and Robert Rashid, to have a good game. Starting the game off right, Barthelmess was walked and Bohling singled to bring him home. Things got hot in the third when Barthelmess and Brewer both got on base by errors made by Carroll. Bohling singled to bring Barthelmess home. Harris grounded out but still managed to bring Brewer home, and Skaer singled to bring Bohling home.
The Vikes kept the heat on through the seventh. Rashid singled and stole second and third base, and Bohling singled to bring him home. Harris was walked and Skaer and Kossow both got on base due to errors bringing home Bohling. Wisniewski hit a single that drove Harris home. This trend of scoring continued into the eighth inning, when Barthelmess and Brewer were both walked and Barthelmess stole all the way until home. Bohling was also walked and Harris hit a double that brought home Brewer. Carroll could not come close to matching our Vikings’ power, only scoring two runs in the eighth.
The Vikings finally had a 11-2 win over Carroll. However, the Vikings were unable to win their final game of the season, and lost to Carroll 8-2.
Even after a loss, the Vikings ended the season happy that they won a conference game for their seniors. Regarding the win, sophomore pitcher John Revis commented, “Getting a conference win was a huge relief. Bohling pitched very well and we put some hits together. Even though it was only one win, it shows us there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We are a very young squad and how hard we work this offseason is crucial to any success we’ll have next year. We were also thrilled to get a win on Senior Day for Wilt and Rashid. Those two have been great mentors to the team all year. We will miss them greatly.” The Vikings finished the season 3-32; as Revis said, the team is very young, so there is huge potential for a great season next year.