East, Central gain 7AA final

by MARK STODGHILL staff writer

PRINCETON, Minn. -- Central or East will represent Duluth in the Minnesota Class AA state baseball tournament next week, after the Trojans and Greyhounds scored semifinal wins in the Region 7AA tournament at Mark Park here Tuesday.

Central sophomore catcher Bob Dahl made sure his senior teammates made it back to Duluth in time for their graduation Tuesday night when he drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning, giving the Trojans a 6-5 victory over Proctor.

East senior Jim Herold then fought off the effects of the flu bug and tossed a two-hitter in the second semifinal as the Greyhounds edged Cambridge 4-3.

East, 14-5, is the defending regional champion, but the Greyhounds and Central, 16-3, have played three times this season and the Trojans have won all three. The teams are co-champions of the Lake Superior Conference.

The winner of today's game faces the Region 6AA winner in the state tournament's opening round at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Municipal Stadium in St. Paul.

Central 6, Proctor 5 -- It took three hours, five minutes to decide a winner here. There were heroes and goats galore.

Dahl thought he was one of the goats early on. Proctor stole nine bases on the Trojan catcher. But he came back to make two clutch foul-pop catches -- sprawling face-first into the dirt to grab one -- before hitting the game-winner with one out in the 10th.

"I had to do something to settle down and make up for the way I was playing," said Dahl, who was filling in for regular catcher Gordy Meagher, who underwent an appendectomy last week.

Proctor junior Chris Kindgren pitched well enough to win, but his team made seven errors behind him and Central scored four unearned runs.

Kindgren sweated out 146 pitches, scattered 11 hits and struck out 10.

"He deserved better than he got," Proctor Coach Rich Petersson said. "He pitched a fantastic game for nine innings. We just made more mistakes than they did."

Central ace Brian Anderson came through again. The senior right-hander raised his record to 10-0 with eight innings of five-hit relief. He struck out 11 and allowed five hits.

However, his availability today is in question. He made 132 pitches Tuesday.

"It (his pitching arm) was sore all the way through," Anderson said.

Could he pitch today? "Maybe in relief," he said.

Tom Stoll, Central's assistant coach, said Ted Vallie, Tuesday's starter, might also start today.

Vallie allowed one hit, two runs and made 45 pitches in two innings, but did his best work with a bat. Vallie had three hits and scored a run.

His fifth-inning error allowed Proctor to go ahead 3-2. But he came back to lead off the seventh with a single to start a two-run rally as the Trojans tied it 4-4 and sent it into extra innings.

"I was trying to redeem myself," Vallie said. "We wanted to win this game so bad."

So badly that Vallie wasn't even thinking about his graduation. "I didn't care about that," he said. "I can get my diploma anytime."

Vallie said he wasn't going to celebrate Tuesday night. "I'm going home and sleep and rest up for the game."

This guy means what he says. Vallie's teammates voted him the Trojans' most dedicated player.

Proctor junior first baseman Craig Peterson didn't hit like a No. 9 man in the order. He had two of the Rails' six hits, scored two runs and stole three bases. Kindgren also had two hits.

Proctor finishes 10-9.

Seven Trojans hit safely, with Dan Sunnarborg and Mark Mohler getting two hits apiece...

(Duluth News Tribune, June 4, 1986)