BEMIDJI -- Kryptonite had no power over the Bemidji High School baseball team on Thursday.
Little Falls, which had eliminated the Lumberjacks in three of the past four seasons, had the tables turned on them when BHS prevailed 8-2 in a win-or-go-home Section 8-3A Tournament game at the BSU baseball field.
“They’ve had our number the last number of years,” Bemidji head coach Mike Fogelson said. “I knew we were in for a battle tonight. … I know what that dugout is going to bring. Great for our guys to take them down.”
The season will live to see another day for the Jacks, who avoided the same heartbreak the 2016, 2018 and 2019 teams faced at the hands of the defending section champion Flyers. In fact, Thursday’s victory was the program’s first over Little Falls since 2004.
“It’s really satisfying,” senior Josh Nyberg said. “My sophomore year, seeing our seniors lose to them in the section championship, it was a sad day. They’re a good program. It was really nice to beat them.”
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This time around, second-seeded BHS dropped the sixth-seeded Flyers from the playoff picture behind a potent bottom of the order.
Hitting seventh, Nyberg’s second-inning RBI double afforded Bemidji (15-7) a 1-0 head start. The Flyers (8-14) came back with two runs a half inning later, but the pendulum swung back to the Jacks in the bottom of the third.
Ben Corradi smacked an RBI triple to the gap and Brandon Lussier followed by walloping an RBI double to the fence for the 3-2 edge.
BHS broke the game open an inning later and jumped ahead 6-2. Grant DeClusin scored on an error, and then Corradi’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly plated two more thanks to a bobble from the right fielder on the transfer.
Up against a team that’s been a constant thorn in Bemidji’s side, no amount of insurance runs could have been enough. Nyberg and Parker Mistic cracked two-out RBI singles in the fifth for an 8-2 advantage.
“Ben Corradi, he’s been a glue stick for us the last couple games and keeping the lineup together,” Fogelson said. “And then Josh Nyberg, Grant DeClusin (came through) with some big, big at-bats. And with Parker Mistic… guys were piecing it together, getting us the runs we needed.”
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Starting pitcher Aaron Heger had a hiccup in the second inning when he allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Matthew Filippi and Dane Couture, but he otherwise held Little Falls scoreless through five-plus frames while striking out 10.
In the sixth inning, Lussier inherited two runners with no outs as a relief pitcher, and he ultimately left the bases loaded with back-to-back strikeouts. The Flyers loaded up the bases again in the seventh, but Lussier escaped unscathed to clinch the win at 8-2.
“Heger and Lussier were dynamite on the mound,” Fogelson said. “We had one inning where they had a little something going, but they were dynamite.”
The offense, meanwhile, gave the pitching staff plenty of run support, most of which came from the 6, 7 and 8 batters. DeClusin, Nyberg and Mistic combined to go 5-for-7 with three RBIs and five runs scored.
“It feels great when you know everyone on your team can hit. It just helps tremendously,” Nyberg said. “The people up front, if they aren’t hitting, they know they’ve got people behind them to pick them up.”
Bemidji advances to play fourth-seeded Rocori at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. That winner will play the loser of Alexandria and Sartell-St. Stephen at 4 p.m. Tuesday in another elimination game.
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Even though their backs are against the wall, the Lumberjacks are keeping the faith that they can run the table.
“We know we’re the winning team now. Every team we’re going to play is (coming off a loss),” Nyberg said. “They’re going to be down, and we’re going to be up, so we’re just going to keep attacking them.”
Bemidji 8, Little Falls 2
LF 002 000 0 -- 2-6-2
BHS 012 320 X -- 8-8-2
WP: Heger (5+ IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K)
LP: Henry (3+ IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)
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