A pair of walks kept Ben Humbert from pitching his second perfect game in less than a week.
Humbert struck out 14 and faced only 22 batters over seven innings to record a no-hitter Thursday when International Falls’ VFW baseball team shut out Virginia, 5-0, in the first game of a doubleheader at Scheela Field.
“I just try to do what I can out there to help my team win,” Humbert said.
His no-hitter, in which only two Virginia batters reached base on walks, comes on the heels of pitching a perfect game June 15 against Superior, Wis., at the VFW tournament in Grand Rapids.
When asked about what has been key in his last two games on the mound to not allowing the batters he has faced to get a hit off of him, Humbert said, “Keep ‘em guessing.”
“I try to throw hard and mixed it in with a curve ball every now and then,” he said. “The most successful pitchers keep the hitters off balance.”
Falls VFW head coach Tim Mellstrom said Humbert “throws well, he’s got good velocity and he changes speeds well.”
“It’s fun to watch him go up on the mound and throw,” Mellstrom said. “The guys behind him playing defense (are) doing a good job.”
Of the seven Virginia outs that didn’t come on strikeouts, only two at-bats involved balls hit to the outfield.
Falls tallied 8 hits, including three from Wyatt Ulrich and two by Humbert.
Ulrich and Humbert both had hits in the opening frame when the Falls left the bases loaded without scoring.
Falls broke the scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the second. Taylor DeLack reached base on a error to lead off the inning and later scored on a ground out by Ulrich.
Ulrich gave the Falls a 2-0 run in the bottom of the fourth after reaching base with a Texas League single and then scoring with Humbert also having a hit.
Falls’ 3-run fifth inning included a two-out single by Ulrich to drive in a pair of runs.
“For the most part, we were able to manufacture runs and do things we needed to do (Thursday),” Mellstrom said.
I. Falls 7, Virginia 1
Falls scored 3 runs in the opening inning en route to winning the second game over Virginia, 7-1, in five innings.
Ulrich singled and then scored on a base hit by Luke Spilde to give Falls its first run. Another single by Jackson Vollom drove in two more runs.
Falls’ Clay Bergstrom hit a leadoff single to set up a run in the second inning. Ulrich then got on base with a walk and later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to give the Falls a 5-0 lead.
In the third inning, Humbert doubled to drive in a run before Cole Miggins singled to drive in Humbert to put the Falls in front, 7-0.
Virginia could only generate a hit with no runs in the first three innings when Vollom pitched for the Falls.
Miggins threw the final two innings, allowing a run on 3 hits.
“We got another solid (pitching) performance in the second game out of Jackson Vollom and Cole Miggins,” Mellstrom said. “Right now our pitching looks strong, and defensively we did another good job (Thursday).”
At the plate, Falls’ 7 hits in the second game came from seven different batters.
The doubleheader sweep of Virginia improves Falls’ overall season record to 8-2 and 4-0 in games that count toward the tournament seeding at the end of the regular season schedule.
“It’s been a pretty positive start, so far, to the season,” Mellstrom said.
The Falls has three road doubleheaders scheduled for next week at Chisholm on Monday, Eveleth on Tuesday and Grand Rapids on Thursday.
Game one
I. Falls 5, Virginia 0
Virginia0-0-0 0-0-0 0 — 0
I. Falls0-1-0 1-3-0 X — 5
WP—Ben Humbert
Game two
I. Falls 7, Virginia 1
Virginia0-0-0 0-1 — 1
I. Falls3-2-2 0-X — 7
WP—Jackson Vollom
