MOOSE LAKE, Minn. --

by Max Mercy

After nine canceled games due to a prolonged winter, the Proctor Rails were finally able to begin their baseball season on Friday, May 3, with a  9-1 non-conference win over Moose Lake-Willow River (ML-WR). The Moose Lake High School field had snowbanks in foul ground and along the outfield fence. There was a light mist throughout the game and the temperature was 34 degrees at game time.

Evan Scherber led off the third inning with a single for Proctor's first hit of the season. Scherber scored from first base on an RBI double by Ben Nelson to give the Rails a 1-0 lead. Nelson, who had advanced to third base on the throw to home plate on Scherber's run, scored on an RBI groundout by Paul Hegstrom for a 2-0 lead.

Nelson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) threw six shutout innings for the win. He did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning, and had retired 10 batters in a row between the second and fifth innings. Nelson allowed two hits, three walks, and a hit batsman. He had eight strikeouts and became the 10th pitcher in school history to surpass 100 career strikeouts. He now has 103.

Losing pitcher Teddy Ryan allowed two runs on four hits, three walks, and two hit batsmen in six innings. He had five strikeouts.

Proctor faced three relievers and sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh inning as their 2-0 lead was expanded to 9-0. Jimmy Merrill delivered a pinch-hit single for two RBIs, and Nelson contributed a two-run single in the inning.

Nelson was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs.