Proctor blanked
Duluth News Tribune, June 8, 1976

WADENA -- A Proctor rally fizzled in the seventh inning and so did the Rails' life in the Minnesota state high school baseball tournament in a first round Class AA game played here Monday.

Little Falls scored lone runs in the second and fourth innings to shut out the Rails 2-0. Pitcher Doug Fregin gave up only three hits to Proctor, which ended the season with an 8-11 recond, and struck out eight.

Fregin, a junior, entered the game with an unimpressive 3-6 record but his team-leading earned run average of 1.50 bears out the number of hard-luck losses he absorbed during the season.

The Rails had the makings of a comeback in the last inning when, with two outs, pitcher Dale Nikko was hit in the head by a pitch, John Baublitz followed with a single and Proctor had runners on first and second.

But the Rails couldn't muster any more and Little Falls earned a second round berth against Marshall, which beat Rochester Mayo 1-0 in its quarterfinal contest.

Dennis Kazeck, the Flyers' designated hitter, got two of Little Falls' eight hits off Nikko and drove in both of its runs. Both hits were singles.

Steve Bzdok got on base in the second and Kazeck drove him in. And in the fourth, Mark Garrison singled, stole second and scored on Kazceck's base hit.

Jeff Merling and Nikko got Proctor's two other hits. Merling singled in the third and Nikko in the fifth.

Little Falls, 13-8, plays a Marshall team that sports a 20-1 record in Thursday's 2:30 p.m. game at St. Cloud's Municipal Stadium.

For the Flyers, champions of Region 8AA, this is their first state appearance in baseball since 1971 when they lost to eventual state champion Richfield in the semifinals.

Nikko, the Rails' sophomore sensation, ends his season with a 7-5 record -- many of the losses one and two-run decisions.

Fregin's 3-hitter paces Little Falls
St. Cloud Times, June 8, 1976

WADENA -- Doug Fregin hurled a three-hitter to help Little Falls past Proctor 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Tournament Monday.

Fregin, a junior righthander, struck out six and walked two in going the distance. He was the Flyer pitcher who scored the victory in his team's 4-2 elimination of St. Cloud Tech in last Wednesday's Region 8AA finals at Moorhead.

A crowd of about 750 saw Little Falls score in the second on Steve Bzdok's one-out double and a single with two out by Dennis Kazeck, then in the fourth when Mark Garrison singled, stole second and scored on Proctor's only error of the game.

Proctor finishes 8-11 while Little Falls, 13-8, will meet Marshall Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Municipal Stadium. Marshall was a 1-0 winner over Rochester Mayo at Austin in another Class AA quarter-final contest Monday. ...

Pitching
Dale Nikko L (7-5), 6.0 IP* 2 R, 8 H

*Assuming Proctor was visitor, otherwise 7.0 IP.