This summer’s home schedule for the International Falls VFW baseball team wrapped up Wednesday at Scheela Field with a doubleheader sweep of Greenway.
“We had some good pitching and good defense (Wednesday),” said Falls VFW head coach Tim Mellstrom.
In game one, which counts for seeding purposes in the upcoming Sub-District Tournament, Ben Humbert allowed only one hit with six walks and struck out 12 pitching the first six innings as the Falls defeated Greenway, 6-1.
Cole Miggins relieved Humbert in the top of the seventh and struck out the side to seal the victory for the Falls. At the plate, Miggins accounted for two of Falls’ six hits.
The Falls broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. Clay Bergstrom led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jack Mellstrom. After reaching third on a wild pitch, Bergstrom scored on a single by Wyatt Ulrich.
Falls’ lead extended to 4-0 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth when four batters walked on base. Humbert led off the inning with a double. Jack Mellstrom added a two-out single to drive in two runs.
The Falls scored its final two runs in the fifth inning. After Luke Spilde singled and advanced to third, he tagged up and reached home when Greenway’s first baseman caught a foul pop fly. Miggins reached base on the at-bat after Spilde and later scored on a wild pitch.
Greenway manufactured its only run in the top of the sixth without a hit when four batters reached base on two walks, an error and a fielder’s choice.
I. Falls 3, Greenway 2
In game two, Spilde pitched all seven innings as he allowed only one earned run on two hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts as the Falls defeated Greenway, 3-2.
The Falls, which had only four hits for the game, scored first in the bottom of the second when Connor Ward reached home on a ground ball.
With no one out and runners at the corners in the third inning, Falls extended its lead to 2-0 when Miggins hit into a double play.
After Greenway got on the scoreboard with a run on a groundout in the top of the fourth, Falls was able to plate what turned out to be the winning run in the fifth inning after Bergstrom led off with a single.
Greenway pulled within a run on a two-out triple in the top of the seventh, but wasn’t able to score the tying run from third when Spilde fanned the next batter for the final out.
“We’re trying to build and trying to get set up, so we’re ready to go for playoffs,” Tim Mellstrom said.
Falls closes out its regular season schedule on Monday with a doubleheader at Ely, which will host the Sub-District Tournament starting next Friday.
Game one
I. Falls 6, Greenway 1
Greenway 0-0-0 0-0-1 0 — 1
I. Falls 0-0-1 3-2-0 X — 6
WP—Ben Humbert
Game two
I. Falls 3, Greenway 2
Greenway 0-0-0 1-0-0 1 — 2
I. Falls 0-1-1 0-1-0 X — 3
WP—Luke Spilde
