The Hilltoppers overcame a 4-0 deficit in the seventh inning and then scored in the ninth to win the Section 7AA first-round game at Hibbing.

After evening the score with four runs in the seventh, Marshall (6-10) added four more in the eighth. Proctor (10-10-1) rallied with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

Marshall's Orry Engebretsen had three hits and scored three runs and teammate Jake McDonnell added two hits and two RBIs.

Justin Filzen and Dan Carlson each drove in two runs for the Rails.

Duluth Marshall 9, Proctor 8
At Hibbing. WP--Dave Hafferty 3IP, 4R in relief of Brian Erola; DM (6-10): Orry Engebretsen 3x5 3R; Jake McDonnell 2x4, 2RBIs; P (10-10-1): Justin Filzen 2x4, 2RBIs; Dan Carlson 2x2 (2 2Bs), 2 RBIs.

(Duluth News Tribune, June 1, 2006)

Baseball falls to Duluth Marshall in Hibbing Section Opener

by The Sports Guy

Scottie Scott Lustig was a little dazed. His Proctor Rails' baseball team had just lost their first-round Section 7AA game against Duluth Marshall, 9-8 in nine innings, and Lustig was striving to accept the finality of the season being over.

"It's just that this was such a crazy game," Lustig said, shaking his head, as if to clear away disbelief. "It was so back and forth..."

The game, played at Hibbing on Wed., May 31, at times resembled a Section yo-yo championship rather than baseball game. First, Proctor took a 4-0 lead that lasted until Marshall finally got on the board with a 4-run explosion in the top of the seventh to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Lustig did his best to regain the lead for the Rails, blasting a fastball off Hilltoppers' pitcher Brian Erola that failed to clear the top of the old-time stadium fence by inches. In any other park, it would have been a home run; Lustig had to settle for a double.

"I was pretty mad about that (the high wall)," admitted Lustig. "But what can you do?"

Sensing a Proctor rally, the Marshall coaching staff wisely changed pitchers, effectively delaying the game and allowing the Rails' momentum to subside. No slouches at fielding, the Marshall players then twice pulled out catches off tough line drives to retire the side and force extra innings.

The top of the eighth saw Marshall add four runs of their own to take an 8-4 lead. As it was for the Hilltoppers just the previous inning, the Rails had their backs to the wall, three outs away from oblivion. Things did not look good for the young men in green and white after Dan Solarz struck out and designated hitter Paul Michelizzi was thrown out at first. But a walk [to freshman Charlie Habermann] and a base hit gave Proctor runners on first and second with Lustig again coming to the plate. The tension was palatable [sic]; could Lustig do it again, get another big hit, this time maybe over that fence built high during depression times [it was built in 1995] to save balls from being lost forever--?

Lustig did almost exactly that, smacking a big hit off different Hilltoppers' pitcher Dave Hafferty to left field, but again failing to clear the wall. This did, however, bring home the Proctor base runners to close the gap to 8-6 with Lustig on second and Drew Scherber as the tying runner coming up to bat. Scherber kept the Rails alive with a single on an infield error that sent Lustig to third. Then Justin Filzen came up to bat. Filzen, as fine a clutch player as any team could hope to have, proceeded to smash an off-the-wall double that scored two and tied the game at 8-8. Proctor threatened to blow thing out; a walk and a struck ball loaded the bases for the Rails. But a pop out ended the inning.

The top of the ninth saw Proctor pitcher Dan Carlson throwing well and the Rails playing with good fielding, but Marshall still pulled out one run on a fielder's choice for the 9-8 lead. Now the question again became, could Proctor come back yet again? Family and friends passing bug spray in the crowd rose to their feet in anticipation. Michelizzi began things on a good note, outrunning a throw to first and stealing second on a wild pitch. But Michelizzi's luck ran out and he was tagged at third on a steal. Then Lustig's good fortune headed south. Perhaps trying too hard to bring in base runner Blake Reinke, Proctor's "Mighty Casey" instead struck out. Marshall held on for the 9-8 win.

The sudden finality of the game and the season shocked both team and fans.

"Coach (Tim Rohweder) said afterwards that we were too good a team to lose this early (in the tournament)," mused Lustig. "He's right. We are a good team. That's what makes it hard to accept that the season is over."

The Rails finish 2006 with a 10-10-1 record, a stadium of faithful, of mosquito-bitten fans, and a lot of good memories of courageous play that will remain long after the disappointment has lifted.

(Proctor Journal, June 8, 2006)