Eskomos baseball team fall in section finals

Playing in their seventh section 7AA playoff game last Thursday in Proctor, the Esko Eskomos knew it was an uphill battle facing Duluth Marshall. They were right. The two-time defending section champion proved to be too much for Esko to overcome as the Hilltoppers defeated Esko 9-0 to capture a third consecutive section title.

Senior Brent Benson threw a complete game against Esko, giving up only five hits, as his teammates pounded out 11 hits, aided by four Eskomos errors in the nine-run victory.

Esko opened up the section tournament with an opening round 14-2 win over Rush City.

Esko then started the double elimination tournament with a loss to Mora 7-5, when a late five-run inning for Mora was enough for the Mustang win. James LeGarde had two RBIs in the loss against Mora.

With one loss on the books, it was going to be a difficult run as the Eskomos knew it was "win or go home" for each game. But then Esko rolled off four straight victories before facing the top-seeded Hilltoppers.

Noah Furcht allowed just one earned run and Esko pounded out 13 hits as the Eskomos defeated Virginia May 30 to remain alive in the sectional tournament. Next up was a rematch against Mora; this time Mason Vinje allowed only one run as Esko finished with 13 hits in an 11-1 win.

James LeGarde threw eight innings of six-hit baseball and Josh Bolgeran scored the one run of the game as Esko beat Eveleth-Gilbert 1-0 to move on and face Aitkin.

In another close contest, Esko scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to come away with the one-run 5-4 win over the Gobblers to move into the section championship game against Marshall. Esko managed only four hits against Aitkin but three of those came in the final inning for the Eskomos.

Esko, who came up short in the section game against Duluth Marshall and saw a season of unknowns and a young team that learned how to win, finished the season with an overall record of 18-8.