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Proctor Rails

07/01/2021 - Jimmy Merling Elected to Proctor Baseball Hall of Fame

PROCTOR — Jimmy Merling has been elected to the Proctor Baseball Hall of Fame. Chosen by the 2021 Rails baseball team's seniors, he is the third of the one-a-year 21st-century players to gain induction.

He will be inducted during the 2022 Proctor Baseball banquet. Other 2022 inductees, from the Today's Game Era (1991-Present), will be announced on October 26, 2021. 

Merling played varsity baseball as a right fielder and second baseman for the Rails from 2010-13. He is Proctor's all-time leader in runs (112), hits (102), stolen bases (68), plate appearances (342), and at bats (284). He is the only Rails player to-date to amass 100 or more hits. He is also the only Rails player to-date to have scored 100 or more runs. His stolen bases tally is 40 more than any other Proctor player's career steals.

Among his other appearances on the Rails career leaderboards, he ranks second in games (91); fourth in total bases (123); fifth in batting (.359), RBI (55), and walks (46); and sixth in doubles (15).

He holds the top two places in single-season school records for runs scored, 38 in 2012 and 34 in 2011, and in stolen bases, 24 in 2012 and 20 in 2011. He struck out once in 67 plate appearances in his senior year.

Merling was named All-Lake Superior Conference First Team in 2013 and Second Team in 2012. He played in four state tournaments while wearing a Proctor uniform: VFW in 2009 and 2010, and PHS in 2011 and 2012.

He played amateur baseball for the Duluth-Superior Dukes (now the Lake Superior Sea Dogs) from 2014-16, and batted .367 (87 hits in 66 games) with 20 doubles, six home runs, 36 RBI and 21 stolen bases in his career.

Proctor Baseball Hall of Fame

Class of 2020

  • Karl Condon, Early Baseball Era
  • Ted Downs, Early Baseball Era
  • Maurice "Spike" Gorham, Early Baseball Era
  • Joe Lane, Golden Days Era
  • Gerald "Peanuts" Peterson, Golden Days Era
  • Jake Lewis, 21st Century Era

Class of 2021

  • Dale Nikko, Modern Baseball Era
  • Ryan McCarthy, 21st Century Era

Class of 2022

  • TBA, Today's Game Era
  • Jimmy Merling, 21st Century Era

Click here for the Proctor Baseball Hall of Fame webpage.

(Photo: Northland Sports Online)