East Wins Tourney Debut

...Virginia stopped Proctor 7-3...

...Virginia made eight hits work for seven runs as the Blue Devils came up with their fifth straight win. Tony Sachetti had three Virginia RBI and Jim Isle two to offset Bill Moen's first inning three-run homer for the Rails...

(Duluth News Tribune, May 5, 1973)

Streaking Devils Host Bears Monday
Mesabi Daily News, May 6, 1973

... Virginia won its sixth consecutive against one loss here Friday by topping Proctor 7-3 in a non-league affair. Jim Nekich hurled the win for the Blue Devils, his first since an opening game 13-3 set back from Greenway.

The junior righthander gave up a three-run first-inning home run to Proctor catcher Bill Moen, then shutout the Rails the rest of the way, allowing only four hits in a seven-inning effort. ...

In Friday's victory, the winners rallied back from a 3-0 deficit with a pair of runs in each of the second, third, and fifth innings plus a single run in the fourth.

[Tony] Sacchetti, with three hits in three at-bats, led Virginia. His third-inning two-out double drove in the winning run.

After Moen, an all-state hockey goalie who is headed to the University of Minnesota on a hockey scholarship, rammed a Nekich pitch over 350 feet to deep centerfield, the Blue Devils came back and turned what looked like a one-sided game into a tight affar.

Sacchetti started thing for Virginia in the second with a one-out single, Nekich walked, and [Jon] Graham rolled back to the pitcher to force Saccetti at third. But [Jim] Ilse followed with a pinch-hit double to center field, scoring both runners. The winners got the tying and go-ahead runs in the third [on] Sacchetti's double, which scored [Steve] Carlson and [Tim] Wright.

They padded the lead with insurance runs in the fourth and fifth (two), with Sacchetti getting another hit and RBI. Alert base-running and some costly Proctor errors were responsible for the final two runs.

Nekich worked the full distance, striking out five and walking three. Proctor's Jim Merling gave up eight hits, struck out three and walked four.