Amateur Baseball: Midway repeats as Lake & Pine North Champions

Midway defeated Nevis and Wolf Lake over the weekend to wrap up the regular season with a 17-7 record. The Snurdbirds captured the Lake & Pine North division crown for the second consective year with a 11-2 mark and they received an automatic berth to the Region 16C playoffs.

The ‘Birds jumped to a quick 7-0 lead in the first inning against the North Stars, but besides that, there wasn’t much action from there as Midway tallied its eighth and final run of the game in the sixth inning. Nevis scored once in the top of the fourth and seventh innings and never threatened during the game.

Zach Etter went 3-for-4 with a run and two ribbies to pace the ‘Birds 12-hit attack. Robert Weaver also pushed across two runs when he went 2-for-3 with a double. Other ‘Birds notching two hits were Derek Dormanen and Drew Rasmussen, who also collected a double. Mike Baso drove in two ribbies.

Derek Dormanen went four innings to pick up the win on the hill. He surrendered just one run on four hits and struck out seven.

Midway wrapped up the regular season with a 7-1 victory over Lake & Pine North rival Wolf Lake on Sunday.

Jake Lund went 2-for-5 with four ribbies as the ‘Birds scattered 15 hits off Wolf Lake and quickly jumped to a 2-0 lead after the opening frame. Rasmussen led off the game with a single, stole second and then scored on Etter’s RBI single. Etter swiped the first of his two stolen bases in the game and capped the first-inning scoring when he came across on a Jake Lund fielders choice.

Midway added to their lead with runs in the third, fourth and seventh inning. Steve Wetterling highlighted the third inning when he ripped a two-out double, followed by back-to-back singles from Baso and Derek Dormanen. Lund’s RBI single plated Shane Hendrickson in the fourth and Brett Dormanen reached on an Wolf Lake error, stole second and scored on Kyle Dormanen RBI single in the seventh to make it 5-0.

Wolf Lake answered with its only run in the bottom of the seventh on a Matt Skoog sacrifice fly that scored Brandon Rioko.

Lund capped the scoring in the eighth with a two-run single that scored Rasmussen and Etter for the 7-1 final.

Hendrickson went eight innings on the hill to pick up the win for the ‘Birds. He surrendered one earned run on four hits, walked three and struck out five. Brett Dormanen struck out two to slammed the door on the Wolf Pack in the ninth.

Midway will host Red Eye at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the Lake & Pine North playoffs.

Nevis at Midway on July 16
Snurdbirds 8, North Stars 2
Nevis 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0—2 6 0
Midway 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 x—8 12 2
WP: Derek Dormanen (Midway) 4IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 7K
LP: Gray (Nevis)
Nevis—No stats provided
Midway—Drew Rasmussen 2-4, 2R, 2B; Zach Etter 3-4, R, 2RBI; Derek Dormanen 2-4, R; Robert Weaver 2-3, R, 2B, 2RBI; Mike Baso 1-2, R, 2RBI; Brett Dormanen 1-1, R; Brandon Mickelson 1-3

Midway at Wolf Lake on July 17
Snurdbirds 7, Wolf Pack 1
Midway 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0—7 15 1
Wolf Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0—1 4 2
WP—Shane Hendrickson (Midway) 8IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 5K
LP—Corey Pudas (Wolf Lake)
Midway—Rasmussen 2-6, 2R; Shane Hendrickson 1-5, R; Etter 2-5, 2R, RBI; Jake Lund 2-5, 4RBI; Steve Wetterling 1-5, R, 2B; Baso 2-2; Brett Dormanen 1-3, RBI; Derek Dormanen 1-3, RBI; Kyle Dormanen 1-2, RBI; Weaver 2-5; Brandon Mickleson 1-5
Wolf Lake—No stats provided