SEASON OVER: Norse Fall To Playoff-Bound DCTC

WELLS---The Bay College Norse baseball team had its season come to an end on Saturday with 13-2 and 8-1 losses to the Dakota County Technical College Blue Knights.

The Norse continued to struggle stringing hits together on offense, and unlike the previous six losses to DCTC, Bay’s pitching staff was also hit hard by the Blue Knight batters.

“Obviously a disappointing way to end the season, but this is the start of a program,” Norse Coach Mike Pankow said. “These kids play hard and they’re doing it the right way."

"We did a lot of good things this year. Our record wasn’t what we wanted it to be, but we built the foundation for success going forward. The first year is a success in my mind.”

Justin Popelka got the ball in the opener, and retired the first two men he faced before being hit hard by the next five batters.

Bradley Goulet hit a solo home run to left field to get things started, then Ian Walker added an RBI double, Henry Laue smacked an RBI triple, and Carter Wendlandt got an RBI single.

All of a sudden, the Norse trailed, 5-0.

Things didn’t get any better in the second inning, when Walker hit a bases-loaded double to bring in three more runs. That made it 8-0, and ended Popelka’s day on the mound.

Ty Ziegler took over and gave up a two-run double to Parker Savard in the third inning, then with Connor Olson on the mound in the fifth inning, Shane Brown had an RBI hit before Laue came up with another two-run double to the fence.

Trailing 13-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Bay had two highlights as Riley Johnson and Oliver Dunn both hit solo home runs to left field. But the Blue Knights got the final out, and the game ended on the mercy rule.

In the nightcap, Kyler Moir took to the hill and was able to retire DCTC in order in the first inning.

But in the second inning, Dakota County scored three times, on an RBI single by Caleb Ditmarson and a two-run hit by Jonah Lewis.

The Knights added an unearned run in the fourth inning, then the Norse got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Dunn hit another home run to left field.

DCTC answered that, however, in the fifth inning, when Joe Garcia cranked a two-run homer to left field, ending Moir’s day with the score 7-1. Mason Korhonen came on to pitch the final 2 2/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits and two walks.

The Blue Knights won all eight games over the past two weeks against the Norse, and improved to 30-15 on the season, and they earned a spot in the NJCAA regional tournament.

Bay College finishes its season with a 10-22-1 record.

“I’m very proud of what these kids accomplished,” Pankow said. “We had seven Dean’s List kids in the first semester, including three 4.0 (GPA)."

"These guys are coming in, getting a great experience, and getting a great education that they can use going into the future. We’re confident with the group we have coming back next year that we can build on that and have some guys with college experience under their belts.”

The Norse say goodbye to four sophomores who will be moving on after this spring: Popelka, Tyler Skufca, Ben Schwalbach, and Garrett Finkbenier.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Finkbeiner, and hear post-game comments from Pankow.