By Max Mercy

PROCTOR -- Proctor defeated Grand Rapids, 6-0, in a Lake Superior Conference baseball game here on Thursday.

Tanner Ross (2-1, 0.00 ERA) tossed a shutout, his second of the season. Ross allowed five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in seven innings pitched.

Proctor scored two runs in the first inning. Blake Imhoff, Ethan Carter, and Ross all singled with no outs to load the bases. AJ Reyelts walked, sending Imhoff across the plate, and Carter scored when Tyler Berglund hit into a double play.

The Rails took a 3-0 lead in the second. Cooper Johnson led off with a walk and Antrell Yoki replaced him as a courtesy runner. Yoki moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Dom Gingerelli, advanced to third on a single by Wyatt Mineheine, and scored on an RBI groundout by Imhoff.

Proctor's final runs came in the third inning. Carter led off with a single but was out at second when Ross reached base on a fielder's choice. Reyelts was hit by a pitch, moving Ross to second. Then, with two outs, both runners scored on a double by Ian Gilles. Mason Imhoff ran for Gilles. He took third on a wild pitch and scored when Mineheine reached on an error.

Carter led the Rails' six-hit attack by batting 2-for-4.

Proctor is back in action on Friday and Saturday, May 19-20, in the Hibbing Mike Bugliosi Wood Bat Classic.

It was Proctor's third win against Grand Rapids in 45 contests in the all-time series. Proctor won the very first game of the series, in the semifinals of the 1976 Region 7AA Playoffs, en route to the Rails' first state tournament appearance. The other win came during the 1999 regular season. (The teams did not meet from 2006-2020).

Wins vs. Grand Rapids

June 1, 1976: Proctor 2, Grand Rapids 0

May 13, 1999: Proctor 10, Grand Rapids 8

May 18, 2023: Proctor 6, Grand Rapids 0