CHISHOLM- The North Woods baseball team came roaring out of the gate Tuesday in the 7A sectional tournament, scoring a 7-2 win over Mt. Iron-Buhl and a 5-4 upset of higher-seeded Chisolm to advance in the winner’s bracket for Thursday’s tournament action.
The win in the opener against MIB was the third victory of the season for the Grizzlies over the Rangers.
After giving up a pair of runs in the top of the first, North Woods got things rolling in the bottom of the second. MIB’s pitcher got off to a rocky start, walking Carson Johnson, hitting Vince Kajala, and walking Caleb Rutchasky. All three crossed the plate after John Warren stroked a single and Alex Burckhardt reached on an infield error.
That turned out to be the only runs the Grizzlies would need, as pitchers Talen Jarshaw and Louie Panichi combined to shut the Rangers out the rest of the way, North Woods picked up two insurance runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, with Cedar Holman and Warren crashing double as part of the scoring spree. Panichi struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to collect the save, with Jarshaw getting credit for the win.
Up next for the fifth-seeded Grizzlies was a tilt against No. 4 Chisholm, enjoying the home field advantage.
That enjoyment evaporated in the top of the fifth when the Grizzlies broke the scoreless tie with a five-run avalanche. Levi Chaulklin got things rolling with a one-out double, and Jarshaw knocked a single and Panichi scorched a triple as the Grizzlies batted around the order to take a 6-0 lead.
The Bluestreaks mounted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs, but couldn’t punch across a tying run. Panichi came on to close out the win, again fanning all three Chisholm hitters.
“It was a team effort offensively, with runs being scored by both the top and bottom of the order,” Grizzlies Head Coach Steve Baker said. “In the Chisholm game, John Warren threw a beautiful 4-2/3 innings and was relieved by Levi Chaulklin, who threw his first inning of the year before handing it off to Louie Panichi for his second save of the day.
The Grizzlies needed to keep their game sharp for Thursday’s third round game against top-seeded South Ridge. If the seeds held, North Woods would have had an elimination bracket game later that same day.