The Vermilion Ironhawks went toe-to-toe with one of the state’s top community college baseball programs Wednesday night in Ely.
Visiting Itasca took the opening game of the fall scrimmage doubleheader 10-5, but the Ironhawks rebounded with an 11-4 win in the nightcap to gain the split.
Freshman Braddrick Lara-Baldwin, an infielder from Atlanta, went threefor- four with two runs scored and three runs batted in to pace the Vermilion offense.
Catcher Martin Cubillan, a sophomore from St. Paul, added two hits including a towering home run while teammates Brandon Rucka and Charlie Mohr contributed two hits each.
Seven different pitchers worked for the Ironhawks, with freshman hurler Caiden Peters (Simley) notching five strikeouts in two shutout innings.
Former Ely Legion pitcher Louie Panichi, a freshman from Cook, also worked two innings, giving up three hits and striking out five, while teammates Bailey Garrett, Bauer Houge and Griffin Stiel all had scoreless innings.
Jo Jo Taverna and Garrett Babcock had run-scoring hits in the opening game and one of the Vermilion pitchers was Talen Jarshaw, another freshman from Cook and an Ely Legion player. Jarshaw gave up two runs in two innings of work.
Vermilion opened its scrimmage season Saturday, losing 9-4 to Hibbing in the opening game and tying 5-5 in the second game.
Stiel, a sophomore outfielder from Hinckley, had a two-run home run in the first game and Rucka, from East Bernard, Texas, followed with a home run in his first college at bat.
Panichi tossed a scoreless inning on the mound in the second game and also went two-for-two with two runs batted in.
Starting pitcher Kyle Self (Morganton, N.C.) also struck out the side for the Ironhawks, who go to International Falls Tuesday for a twinbill with division rival Rainy River.
