By: Scott DCamp, Northland Communications
Aurora, MN -
Northland Community & Techncial College swept an MCAC Northern Division baseball doubleheader against Minnesota North College - Vermilion Sunday afternoon in Aurora (Minn.). The Pioneers shutout the Ironhawks 10-0 in five innings in game one and they rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 with their second walk-off win in as many weeks. Overall, the Pioneers took three of four from the Ironhawks to improve to 15-1 in MCAC North play. The Pioneers gained a game in the standings and now lead second place MNC-Itasca by three games after the Vikings split a four-game series against MNC-Hibbing.
Game 1
The Pioneers were the home team on the scoreboard for both of Sunday's games. The Pioneers loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but failed to score any runs. The Pioneers broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on three hits. The Pioneers added a run without recording a hit in the third inning, and then broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth with six runs on six hits. The 10 runs were more than enough support for starting pitcher
Rayce Fisher, who pitched a five-inning complete game two-hitter. He did not walk a batter and struck out six Ironhawk batters in his five innings of work.
Dylan Smith,
Tyler Tamez,
Gamaliel Vasquez and
Cooper Lawrence all had multi-hit days. Smith went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Tamez went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Vasquez was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI; and Lawrence was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Game 2
The Pioneers scored a run on two hits to take an early 1-0 lead in game two. The Ironhawks took the lead in the top of the third, scoring two runs on three hits. The score remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh, when the Ironhawks added a pair of insurance runs on three hits to take a 4-1 lead.
Jeremiah Vallejo and
Cooper Lawrence walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh for the Pioneers, and
Dylan Smith was hit by a pitch from MNC-Vermilion reliever Colbie Parker to load the bases.
Joshua Torres hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Vallejo to tag-up and score, with Lawrence also tagging up and advancing to third.
Smith, who had held up at first on the sacrifice fly by Torres, stole second and drew a throw from MNC-Vermilion catcher Martin Cubilan that allowed Lawrence to steal home and make a one-run ballgame.
Justin Amesquita flew out to left for the second out of the inning. The next batter, Tamez, doubled to center to score Smith from second and tie the game.
With the game tied 4-4, Vaszuez hit a groundball to second and reached on an error by MNC-Vermilion second baseman Dylan Coello, with Tamez scoring the game-winning run on Coello's throwing error.
Justin Amesquita got the start for the Pioneers and went three and a third innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
Joshua Torres got the final two outs in the fourth inning and pitched the remainder of the game, allowing two runs on four hits in his three and two-thirds innings of work.
Up next
The Pioneers face the MNC-Itasca Vikings in a four-game series with the MCAC Northern Division title on the line. The Pioneers are scheduled to host the Vikings in a doubleheader on Friday, May 2 with games at 1 and 3:30 p.m., before wrapping up the regular season against the Vikings in Grand Rapids with games at 1 and 3:30 p.m.
April 27, 2025
Minnesota North College-Vermilion at Northland Community & Technical College
Game 1
0
10
Line Score
| Final |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
R |
H |
E |
| Minnesota North College-Vermilion |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| Northland Community & Technical College |
0 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
X |
10 |
13 |
2 |
Box Score
Baserunning
SB: Andrew Ritter , Nick Berglund
Fielding
E: Andrew Ritter , Dylan Coello (2) , Martin Cubillan
DP: Dylan Coello , TJ Frein , Dylan Ploen
Batting
2B: Isaac Lopez
RBI: Dylan Smith , Joshua Torres , Gamaliel Vasquez , Isaac Lopez , Austin Amesquita , Jeremiah Vallejo
GIDP: Justin Amesquita
Baserunning
SB: Dylan Smith , Jeremiah Vallejo , Cooper Lawrence
Fielding
E: Joshua Torres , Jeremiah Vallejo
Pitching
Batters faced: Andrew Ritter (27) , Dylan Spears (2)
HBP: Andrew Ritter , Dylan Spears
Pitching
Batters faced: Rayce Fisher (19)
April 27, 2025
Minnesota North College-Vermilion at Northland Community & Technical College
Game 2
4
5
Line Score
| Final |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| Minnesota North College-Vermilion |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
2 |
| Northland Community & Technical College |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
Box Score
Batting
2B: Dylan Coello , TJ Frein
RBI: TJ Frein (2) , Nick Berglund (2)
Sac: Andrew Ritter , Nick Berglund
Baserunning
SB: Nick Berglund , Colbie Parker
Fielding
E: Dylan Coello , TJ Frein
DP: Dylan Coello , TJ Frein , Jo Jo Taverna
Batting
2B: Dylan Smith , Justin Amesquita , Tyler Tamez
RBI: Joshua Torres , Justin Amesquita , Tyler Tamez
Sac: Dylan Smith , Joshua Torres
Sac Fly: Joshua Torres
GIDP: Austin Amesquita
Baserunning
SB: Dylan Smith (2) , Cooper Lawrence
CS: Jeremiah Vallejo
Pitching
Batters faced: Jo Jo Taverna (27) , Colbie Parker (5)
HBP: Jo Jo Taverna (2) , Colbie Parker
Pitching
Batters faced: Justin Amesquita (18) , Joshua Torres (16)
WP: Justin Amesquita
