The Vermilion Ironhawks only had two wins to show for their first seven games in Florida, but it was a week of progress and growth nonetheless.
Several Vermilion pitchers had strong outings on the mound, and the community college baseball team picked up splits - and were a play or two away from sweeps in action on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
Sophomore Andrew Ritter fired a two-hitter in Monday’s 13-1, five-inning rout of SUNY-Adirondack, and former Ely Legion star and North Woods graduate Louie Panichi had three hits and five runs scored in the doubleheader, which started with an 11-8 Adirondack victory.
Two days earlier, lefty TJ Frein allowed four hits in five-and-one-third innings as Vermilion edged Lake Region (ND) 3-2, but the Ironhawks blew a 5-2 lead in the nightcap and fell 6-5 in eight innings.
The Ironhawks, now 4-7, struggled early in the trip but gave nationally-ranked Niagara a battle in one of two contests in a March 6 doubleheader at Auburndale.
Niagara, which has won 55 consecutive regular season games, struggled against Panichi and led only 2-1 with two outs in the fifth inning before exploding late and winning 11-1 in six innings. The Ironhawks also won the opener 10-0.
Vermilion (4-7) has traditionally struggled on its Florida trip, but the Ironhawks had their moments this week.
“By Monday night, we easily could have had four wins,” said head coach Tom Coombe. “We just couldn’t hang on against Lake Region and we pretty much gave Monday’s first game away against Adirondack after we had built a big lead. We’re going through some growing pains but there have been a lot of bright spots and you can start to see some things coming together both with our pitching staff and our lineup.”
Rit ter, who ea rned All-Northern Division honors last spring, was dominant at times in his first start of the spring. Adirondack touched him for a third-inning run but mounted no other offense to speak of. The righthander from South St. Paul recorded seven strikeouts and walked just one batter.
Vermilion led 2-1 before putting things away with a seven-run third. The key blow was a two-run single by Charlie Mohr, a sophomore from Forest Lake.
Panichi continued to be a force near the top of the Vermilion order, scoring three times on two walks and a single.
Frein scored twice, second baseman Dylan Ploen added two hits and shortstop Matthew Riehl finished with two hits as well.
In the opener, Aidan Brandenburg’s bases-clearing double helped stake Vermilion to a 7-1 lead, but the Ironhawks came up empty in a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fourth and Adirondack stormed back, taking the lead with a fourrun fifth.
Vermilion starter Kyle Self, a freshman from North Carolina, left after four innings with a 7-4 lead but the Vermilion bullpen couldn’t hold on.
Panichi and Ritter had two hits each for the Ironhawks.
On Saturday, Vermilion beat Lake Region 3-2 as Frein notched his first collegiate win, striking out four, and Self got the five-out save.
Catcher Martin Cubillan went three-for-three, freshman Brandon Rucka had two hits with a run batted in, and both Jo Jo Taverna and Brecken Boisvert knocked in runs.
Vermilion led 5-2 in the second game, but Lake Region took advantage of four walks to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, and walked it off with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Taverna started and worked five innings, giving up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
Vermilion’s Cubillan had three hits, Panichi had two with a run-scoring double, and Jake Lehman singled in a run. Ploen also singled and scored twice.
The Ironhawks had few highlights against 2025 JUCO World Series participant Niagara, but one came when Rucka led off the second game with a solo home run.
Panichi kept Vermilion close, limiting Niagara to two runs, just one earned, through four innings.
The tide turned on a twoout, three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth and Niagara was on its way.
