A successful double steal made the difference and accounted for the only run in the first game of Tuesday’s VFW baseball doubleheader at Scheela Field between International Falls and Grand Rapids.
Falls starting pitcher Wyatt Ulrich threw five shutout innings before leaving the game with an out in the top of the sixth after having walked two Rapids batters that were part of the double steal.
Ben Humbert, whose starting pitching outings this summer include a perfect game and another no-hitter, relieved Ulrich in the sixth.
With runners on first and third, Rapids sought to attract the throw of Falls catcher Jack Mellstrom with a steal attempt to second. When that happened, Rapids’ Nick Johnson headed home from third and beat the throw back to Mellstrom in what turned out as the game-winning run in a 1-0 victory over the Falls.
“The first game we only ended up with three hits and really struggled at the plate,” said Falls head coach Tim Mellstrom. “We had a couple of chances in the first three innings and couldn’t score any runs, which in the end really hurt us.”
Rapids pitcher Noah Johnson scattered the three Falls hits over seven innings to record the complete-game victory.
Both the Falls and Rapids had scoring opportunities in the early innings with no runs to show for their efforts.
After Rapids left two on base in the opening inning, a play at the plate prevented Falls from scoring in the bottom of the frame.
Humbert was tagged out at home when he attempted to score from second on a two-out single by Luke Spilde.
Both teams stranded two runners in the second inning.
Falls loaded the bases with no one out in the third inning, but wasn’t able to score after Ulrich doubled, Taylor DeLack singled and Humbert got on with a walk. The inning ended after Spilde popped out and Cole Miggins hit into a double play.
While trailing by a run in the bottom of the sixth, the Falls attempted to put a runner in scoring position with two outs when Jackson Vollom, who reached base on a walk, was called out stealing at second to end the inning.
Miggins pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Falls, which once again wasn’t able to get a runner to second in the bottom of the inning.
I. Falls 5, Grand Rapids 4
In the second game that went five innings, Falls rallied for three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth to win, 5-4.
“It was nice to bounce back and win the second game,” Tim Mellstrom said. “We had a nice rally.”
An infield hit by DeLack led off Falls’ rally. Vollom doubled to drive in DeLack. Humbert tripled to tie the game. With Rapids playing shallow in the outfield with no one out, Jack Mellstrom hit the game-winning single on a fly to left field.
