Superior 12, Proctor 2
Duluth News Tribune, April 29, 1998
Brett Jahnke had a two-run home run and knocked in three runs to lead the Spartans to the six-inning Lake Superior Conference win at home.
Jahnke was 2-for-2 with a double and Dusty Wilson was 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and a solo homer in the sixth inning that ended the game. Dan Wiita and Adam Peterson both had two hits and two RBIs. Mike Massoglia added two hits for Superior (3-4 overall, 2-2 LSC).
Winning pitcher Chris Helland threw a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
Travis Warnygora hit a solo homer for Proctor.
Proctor 2, Superior 12
Proctor Journal, May 7, 1998
The next day the Rails had a much shorter trip that took them just across the bay to Superior for a Lake Superior Conference (LSC) outing against the Superior Spartans.
Unfortunately, the outcome was even more devastating than that of one day earlier, and the green and white fell by a 12-2 margin.
Reportedly, play was close until the latter half of the fourth inning when the Spartans broke the game open with a six-run rally to put the game out of reach.
This time Proctor bats seemed to show a bit more spark of life. Once again it was Travis Warnygora who provided the most excitement for Proctor fans, as the slugger planted one over the fence for Proctor. However, Jay Dardis and Justin Blackmer also helped to raise the hopes for Rail boosters as each smacked two-base hits during the course of the game.
Kyle Jonland took the hit on the mound for the green and white...
Spartans pound Rails for third straight victory
Superior Daily Telegram, April 29, 1998
After opening the season with four losses, the Superior Senior High School boys' baseball team has seemed to right the ship as they have now rattled off three straight wins including a 12-2 win over the Proctor Rails at the Morrie Arnovich Field on Tuesday.
The win not only improves the Spartans to 3-4 overall, but in the Lake Superior Conference they climb over the .500 mark with a 3-2 record. Proctor falls to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in league play.
After two solid outings with nothing to show for it, Chris Helland (1-1) finally got into the win column with a four-hitter.
Helland, who has a no-decision (Hermantown) and a 1-0 loss (Cloquet) to his credit so far, also finished with 10 strikeouts and no walks.
"He's our ace, we just had to score him some runs," said SSHS Head Coach Steve Fregin. "If he keeps his walks down and we keep up the hitting, we can play with anybody."
The Spartans also got home runs from Brett Jahnke and Dusty Wilson.
Jahnke, a sophomore who plays shortstop when Helland pitches, hit a two-run shot in Superior's six-run second inning.
Wilson, who didn't enter the game until the third inning, ended the game when he belted the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning over the left-center fence.
"Dusty got a chance to play and he came up with two big hits that helped us win the game," said Fregin. "As a team we're starting to hit the ball a little bit and the 13 hits we had Tuesday are a sign of things coming around."
The baker's dozen in hits was the Spartans' highest output of the season.
Jahnke and Wilson also had doubles as both went 2-for-2 on the night. Leadoff batter Dan Wiita also had two hits and scored three runs, while Mike Massoglia was 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
Wiita started things right away for the Spartans when he reached on an error and scored on a Jahnke sacrifice fly in the first inning.
After Travis Warnygora homered for the Rails in the second inning, the Spartans came back with six runs in the bottom half of the second to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
Massoglia, Brandon Miller, Wiita, Adam Peterson, and Jahnke all had hits in the inning and all scored runs, along with Kevin Ritsche, who got on base via an error.
Superior added three more runs in the third inning on a Ritsche RBI single and a two-run single by Peterson.
It went to 11-1 in the fourth when Jahnke led off with a double and scored on a Miller single.
Proctor made it 11-2 in the fifth with an unearned run.
The Spartans are back in LSC action on Thursday at Duluth East. Game time is 4:30 p.m.