Hermantown improved to 5-0 with a 6-1 victory over Denfeld in a Lake Superior Conference baseball game late Wednesday at Ray Adameak Field at Wade Stadium. Fireballing starter Dawson Rannow scattered two hits in five innings for the Hawks, who visit Cloquet later today.
“Dawson did a good job keeping Denfeld pretty much off-balanced most of the night,” said Hermantown coach Billy Tafs. “He still has to minimize his walks, but we were very satisfied with his second outing of the season, especially now that we are starting to extend our arms beyond just a couple innings.
“It’s hard to complain when you are 5-0, but still have a lot of stuff to improve on. Defensively (vs. Denfeld), it was probably our best game to date which was promising to see. Offensively we looked great in some at bats, and horrible for others. To Denfeld’s credit their pitcher did a nice job getting his offsides pitches across after we hit some pitches hard in the first inning, so absolutely credit to those guys over there and him for pretty much dominating us after the first inning and not giving us many more fastballs in the zone to drive.”
Hermantown defeated Cloquet 10-4 last Thursday at Mettner Field.
“Cloquet is a much improved team from 2022,” said Tafs. “Coach Olin has done a fantastic job getting that program headed in the right direction. It’s the same old song and dance for us, though. If we play defense and throw strikes our bats are good enough where we should be in every game. If we don’t, then we lose. So hopefully we can bring the defensive momentum we picked up against Denfeld and bring it into the Cloquet game.”
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Hermantown defeated host Denfeld 6-1 in a Lake Superior Conference boys tennis match Wednesday afternoon. No. 1 singles standout Aaron Evjen won his match in consecutive sets.
"We have a bunch of really, really good athletes, who like to compete," Hawks coach Jessica Worden said.
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Hermantown will play its 2023 softball home opener at 4 p.m., against neighborhood rival Esko. The Hawks are led by elite senior pitcher Natalie Vitek, sophomore catcher Mikayla Sweeney, senior third baseman Jadyn Lind and junior outfielder Bailee Edwards.
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The Hermantown boys golf team won the Bluejacket Invitational Monday at Purple Hawk in Cambridge, Minn. Connor O'Hara took home medalist honors, while Peyton Menzel and Holdyn Evjen placed second and third, respectively. The Hawks also placed second in the Grand Slam Tourney on Friday at Eagle Ridge. Menzel, O'Hara and Evjen were named to the All-Tournament Team. Hermantown also tied for first place at the Lake Superior Conference event Wednesday at Pokegama.
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The Hermantown girls golf team won the Lake Superior Conference event Wednesday at Pokegama. It is the third-straight conference championship for the Hawks. Team members include Izy Fairchild, Olivia Martalock, Chelsea Holt, Hailey Laspi, Cadence Godmare and Peighton Paulson.
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Former Hawks hockey standouts Ty Hanson, a Bulldogs recruit, and Aaron Pionk, who's headed to play for Mankato State, attended the Hermantown vs. Denfeld baseball game on Wednesday night.