The Blue Devils ruined the Rails' opener behind the Hedley twins and Devon Ceglar.

Nate Hedley went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and struck out eight and gave up three hits in five innings. Nick Hedley scored four runs and Ceglar drove in four.

Virginia scored 14 runs in the top of the fifth.

(Duluth News Tribune, April 16, 2004)

Baseball bombarded in season opener

It was a close game for the Proctor Rails' baseball season and home opener against Virginia, that is until the bottom dropped out of the top half of the fifth inning.

Virginia opened the game by plating two runs in the top of the first inning, when two batters reached base on a pair of walks. Both of those scored on an error, a hit batter and a single.

Proctor cut that lead in half in the bottom of the second inning when Jake Comnick led off the inning with a crowd-pleasing triple. Moments later the gutsy senior raced home to score on a steal. As the inning came to a close, the Blue Devils were ahead 2-1.

Unfortunately, that one run is all the Rails would be able to muster. Proctor fell 18-1.

Kyle Wojtysiak stretched a two-out single into a double in the bottom of the third, but he would go no further before the sides were retired.

Another scoring opportunity was lost in the fourth inning. Ryan Vanderscheuren reached first on a lead-off walk, and worked his way to third base. However, the Rails were unable to bring the base runner in before the third out was logged.

Virginia all but put the game out of reach in the top of the fourth inning, to give the visitors the 4-1 lead.

The top half of the fifth inning was more than a back breaker. Virginia uncorked an onslaught that would not end until 18 batters stepped up to the plate and 14 runs came home. By the close of the marathon half inning, Virginia was leading 18-1.

Vanderscheuren was the losing pitcher. Josh Trevena and Wojtysiak came on in relief, with each logging one inning.

Proctor will be on the road today, Thurs. to Mesabi East before returning tomorrow for a home showdown with Eveleth-Gilbert. Both games have 4:30 p.m. start times. The junior varsity game will follow varsity tomorrow, Fri. On Mon., April 26 the team will head to Carlton for a 4 p.m. game.

(Proctor Journal, April 22, 2004)