After a couple of seasons in northeastern Minnesota, Florida native Aidan Brandenburg is adjusting to baseball in cold weather - and even when fields are surrounded by snow.
But the sophomore provided his own heat last Saturday, and got the community college baseball team out of the cold with a mammoth solo home run that lifted the Vermilion Ironhawks to a walkoff victory and a doubleheader sweep last Saturday at Aurora.
With one swing of the bat, Brandenburg sent a ball over the centerfield fence and Vermilion completed an 8-7, eight-inning victory over Central Lakes. The Ironhawks also won the first game 13-3 in five innings.
The wins kickstarted a busy stretch for Vermilion, who are in Des Moines this week for six games, prior to the start of Northern Division play this week.
Brandenburg’s blast finished off a day that started with sun and 55-degree temperatures and finished with 35-degree readings and gusting winds.
“I think we were all ready to go home and Aidan made sure we didn’t have to stick around in the cold any longer,” said Vermilion Head Coach Tom Coombe. “Aidan is one of our hardestworking players and nobody spends more time in the batting cage, so to see him come up with a hit like that was really gratifying to see.”
Brandenburg had three hits for the Ironhawks, who erased a 7-3, sixth-inning deficit to force extra innings.
Vermilion plated four runs in the sixth, and a ground-rule double by North Woods graduate and former Ely Legion star Louie Panichi tied it up.
The Ironhawks escaped a seventh-inning jam thanks to freshman reliever Brecken Boisvert while another lefty, sophomore TJ Frein, came on in the eighth and stranded two runners.
Frein, the fourth Vermilion pitcher, gained his second win of the spring and also helped with tow hits at the plate. Boisvert hit a solo home run for the Ironhawks and Jo Jo Taverna picked up two key hits.
In the opener, freshman pitcher Kyle Self settled in after a rocky first inning and held the Raiders to four hits, fanning five, to gain his first college win.
Vermilion came back from an early 3-0 deficit, tying the game in the second inning and scoring eight times in the fourth inning to take charge.
Sophomore third baseman Charlie Mohr had both a solo home run and a two-run single, and Panichi knocked in three more runs.
Dylan Ploen added two hits, as did Martin Cubillan, a sophomore who is hitting a sizzling .424 for the spring.
The Ironhawks had games with MCAC South teams Minnesota West, Rochester and Riverland to get set for the 20-game division slate, which starts with four contests April 3-4 against Northland, at Thief River Falls.
“It’s a tough way to start our conference season with four games out at Northland, but we have to take them one at a time and I think we have the depth to make a good run at them,” said Coombe. “We can’t afford to dig ourselves a hole right away in the league so we’ll need to pick up some wins out there to give ourselves a chance.”
Weather and field conditions permitting, the Ironhawks will have their first home games in Ely on Saturday, April 11, against Mesabi.
