Esko pitcher gets revenge against Hawks

by JIM GOEBEL of the News-Tribune staff

It was a year ago that Esko pitcher Todd Juntunen laid on the ground after crashing into a pipe against the backstop at Wade Stadium trying to catch a foul ball.

He stayed in the game, but the mishap cost him two teeth and 25 stitches. But Juntunen also remembers the game for another reason. He lost the game 3-2, giving Hermantown the District 26 championship.

Saturday afternoon, Juntunen settled the score with the Hawks. The slim, 6-foot lefthander shut down Hermantown 4-0 with a no-hitter, giving the Eskomos their first District 26 title.

In two other games at Wade Saturday, Dale Nikko returned to the form that won him 10 games...last year by hurling Proctor to the Sub-Region 2 championship with a 5-1 triumph over Central, while Hibbing won Sub-Region 3 in a 14-13 slugfest over Denfeld.

Region 7 semifinals start Monday...Virginia is the Class AA site...Proctor will battle Hibbing at 5 p.m...

...Proctor's pitching should be tough going into the region tourney after Mike Grover fanned 19 in a 7-1 win over Cloquet Friday and Nikko's three-hit performance over Central.

Nikko struggled all season with arm stiffness and an ankle injury. "I think I lifted too many weights this season and got too tight," said Nikko, who pitched the Rails to state in 1976. "I'm not getting the snap (on the ball) like I used to. I threw harder today than I did this year."

His effort Saturday may have surprised some people, but Rails Coach Rich Petersson expected it. "I told you Nikko would come up with a game. He's been here before.

"I'm really happy for Dale, it hasn't been a good year for him," Petersson said. "He had an injury and mentally had to handle not being the No. 1 pitcher this year. I knew we were going to get a good game out of him."

Central jumped into a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Steve Abrahamson singled in Dave McCuskey. Abrahamson also killed a Proctor threat in the top half of the fourth.

With two out and runners on first and third, Nikko smashed a drive deep into left field. Abrahamson raced toward the wall in a dead run, catching the ball with his out-stretched glove, and held on when he somersaulted to the ground. It was the defensive play of the tournament and Troy Coach Bruce Aunan met Abrahamson on the outfield grass to congratulate him.

Junior Tim Norton tied the score in the fifth for Proctor by singling in freshman brother Dan Norton. The younger Norton then ripped a two-run single in the sixth. Two more insurance runs came across in the seventh on a single by Nikko and an error...

(Duluth News Tribune, June 4, 1978)