The Yellowjacket baseball team entered the 2014 season with a few question marks. After last year's fifth place WIAC finish, Head Coach Eddy Morgan resigned to accept the same position at Concordia University Wisconsin. Several key players also departed, including All-WIAC selection T.J. Evanson.

How would the team respond? If the early games of 2014 are any indication, it could be a fun season of Yellowjacket baseball.

The Yellowjackets have been impressive early, winning tight games and enjoying a huge blowout on the way to a 3-1 start during their spring trip in Arizona.

Yellowjackets 5, Bethany Lutheran 4

The season got off to a rocky start, as Blake Terzich led off the game with a home run to give the Vikings the early lead.

In the bottom of the second Brady Flaherty (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity) was hit by a pitch and Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) followed with his first home run of the season to tive the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead.

Bethany Lutheran rebounded with two runs in the top of the third to regain the lead. In the bottom half of the inning Connor McLeod (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes) singled with one out and Wyatt Soderquist (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) tripled him home to tie the game at 3-3.

Things stayed even until the bottom of the sixth inning when Tony Remund (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) broke the deadlock with his first home run of the year to push the Yellowjackets up by a run once again at 4-3.

The Vikings tied it up again, however, in the top of the seventh inning, but the tie didn't last long. In the bottom of the inning Alex Quinones (Waterloo, Iowa) led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Derek Cagle (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice). Matt Vold (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) followed with a base hit, giving the Yellowjackets a 5-4 victory in the seven-inning affair to open the season.

Each team had seven hits in the game, with seven different Yellowjackets picking up one hit.

Starter Travis Elwood (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) earned the win, going the distance and allowing four runs (two earned) with three walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings.

Yellowjackets 23, Bethany Lutheran 4

The second game of the doubleheader was over before the Vikings even came to bat. In the second game the Yellowjackets pounded out 21 hits in just five innings, scoring 23 runs to move to 2-0 on the year with a 23-4 win.

Starting pitcher Alex Beers (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) was the beneficiary of all that offense. Beers pitched a complete game, allowing four runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Offensively Fairbanks had a huge game, going 3-for-3, scoring four runs and driving in six.

In the top of the first the Yellowjackets got things going early, scoring nine times to immediately blow the game open. Fairbanks and Quinones each drove in two runs as the Yellowjackets sent 13 men to plate in grabbing a 9-0 lead.

Up 11-3, the Yellowjackets had another big inning in the third, plating six runs. With one out Soderquist singled and Flaherty followed with a two-run home run. Fairbanks was up next and he belted his second home run of the day as the Yellowjackets went up 14-3. Cagle, Vold, and McLeod also had RBI singles in the inning as the lead bulged to 14.

The Yellowjackets added three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, including Fairbanks' second homer of the game as well as a three-run shot from Jordan Koepp (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) to make the final margin of victory.

Remund and Vold also had three-hit games. Remund and Quinones each scored three runs while Vold drove in four to pace the Yellowjackets offensively.


The second day of games saw the Yellowjackets play a pair of games against Illinois Tech, and the teams split the twinbill.

Illinois Tech 5, Yellowjackets 2

The Scarlet Hawks got on the board in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the second the Yellowjackets scored twice to take the lead.

Fairbanks led off the frame with a walk and Sam Holden (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) followed with a double, scoring Fairbanks to tie the game. Later in the inning with runners on first and third the Yellowjackets executed a double-steal, with Holden scoring and it was 2-1.

The game stayed that way until top of the sixth inning when Illinois Tech exploded for four runs. The big blow was a two-run single from Bill Cronin, and the Scarlet Hawks went ahead by three runs.

Offense was a little tougher to come by in the game for the Yellowjackets, as they mustered only two hits in the game, both of them courtesy of Holden.

Graham Miller (Cumberland, Wis./Cumberland) started on the mound for the Yellowjackets and pitched five strong innings, allowing one run on four hits. Miller walked six and struck out two. Grant Schneider (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) pitched just a third of an inning and surrendered four runs in taking the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season.

Yellowjackets 11, Illinois Tech 10

The offense that dried up in the first game came back in full force in game two as the Yellowjackets got back in the win column.

Soderquist walked with one out in the top of the first and later scored on a Flaherty single to make it 1-0. Flaherty later scored on a Fairbanks RBI-double to increase the lead. In the top of the second Vold, McLeod and Soderquist all drove in runs to give the Yellowjackets a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half.

Illinois Tech answered in the bottom of the second with three runs of its own and the lead was trimmed back down to two. In the third inning the Yellowjackets plated one run and the Scarlet Hawks two, reducing the Yellowjacket lead to one at 6-5.

In the top of the fourth inning the Yellowjackets scored twice more, and again it was Fairbanks doing the damage. This time he drove in two runs on a double to increase the lead to 8-5. In the fifth a McLeod sacrifice fly pushed the lead to four.

Illinois Tech wasn't going to go away quietly, however, scoring three times in the bottom half of the fifth to once again cut the lead to one, 9-8.

The Yellowjackets kept their foot on the pedal and scored twice more in the top of the sixth. Freshman Tyler Evans (Andover, Minn./Andover) stroked a one-out double that scored two runs to give the Yellowjackets an 11-8 lead.

Once again the Scarlet Hawks answered. In the bottom of the sixth they plated two runs of their own and it was once again a one-run game heading into the final inning.

The Yellowjackets put a runner on base in their half but were held off the board. In the bottom of the inning Illinois Tech wasn't able to muster anything, going down in order and giving the Yellowjackets the victory.

For the game the Yellowjackets had 13 hits, with five players having two-hit games. Soderquist, Flaherty, and Quinones each scored twice, while Fairbanks drove in three. Illinois Tech finished the game with 17 hits.

Kyle Gauger (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) got the start for the Yellowjackets, going five innings and allowing eight runs on 14 hits. He walked two and struck out one in winning his first game of the year. Brock McDermid (Pulaski, Wis./Pulaski) pitched the final two innings, giving up two runs on three hits to earn the save.

The Yellowjackets (3-1), after being off on Monday return to action on Tuesday with a pair of single nine-inning games. They will take on Macalester College out of St. Paul, Minn. at 10:00 a.m., followed by a tilt against Carroll University of Waukesha, Wis. at 2:00 p.m.