Central, Denfeld to Meet in Baseball Meet Finals

It'll be Duluth Central and Denfeld squaring off in the finals of the District 26 high school baseball tournament at 8 p.m. Wednesday night at the Duluth Municipal stadium.

Central, an up-and-down team all season, hammered its way into the finals with a lop-sided 13-3 win over the Proctor Rails in the first game of a twin bill at the stadium last night.

In the nightcap, powerful Denfeld, ranked as favorite in the tourney, blanked Hermantown, 14-0. Larry Anderson hurled for the Hunters.

Norm Kragseth led the thrill-packed first game in spectacular plays when he boomed a homer over the 340-foot marker about 30 feet in from the foul line in left field in the fourth inning with two mates on the sacks.

Just a short while before, Stan Hendrickson, fleet Trojan ace, circled the bases with an inside-the-park home run with no one on the bases.

Hendrickson also led the Trojans' 11-hit barrage by contributing a triple along with his homer.

The Trojans came from behind with a five run burst in the last half of the second inning, after the Rails had scored three times in the top half of the frame, and counted five times.

Four more Central runs were added in the third frame and the last four on the homers by Kragseth and Hendrickson in the fourth.

Kragseth, on the mound for the winners, allowed only six hits and fanned seven men.

The Rails started Dale Erickson but he was relieved by Ronnie Ron Main in the third inning who finished the tour.

(Duluth News Tribune, August 9, 1949)

Rails Eliminated Monday in District Tournament

Proctor's high school baseball team was eliminated in the semi-finals of the District [26] Tournament by the Central Trojans Monday evening at the Duluth Municipal stadium.

The Rails took an early but short-lived lead in the second inning, 3-0, but the Trojans came back with five in their half of the second, and added four more in the third and fourth innings. The final score was 13-3.

Dale Erickson started on the mound for Proctor, but was relieved by Ron Main in the fourth inning. The Trojans slammed 11 hits off the serves of Main and Erickson, while the Rails were able to get but six off Kragseth.

(Proctor Journal, August 11, 1949)