In an impressive run of baseball during the week of the Fourth of July, the Cloquet VFW steamrolled their way to 5-1 record after opening the week on July 3 with a sweep over Esko.
"Our VFW team gives us great hope for upcoming high school play," said VFW coach Steve Jezierski. "Rick Stowell and Jeff Ojanen are great coaches to work with. They are both tremendous teachers of the game and there are willing pupils in this young bunch."
Cloquet kicked off the week by beating Esko 5-1 in the first of two games with Thomas Jezierski improving to 5-0 on the season by throwing a three-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk. Thomas Rogers smacked out a pair of hits to lead the offense.
Dedric Clark tossed a five-hitter in game two with six strikeouts and no walks to complete the sweep and Rogers again had a pair of hits.
On July 5, Cloquet opened a doubleheader with a 4-1 loss to Duluth Central. Cloquet hitters struck out just once, but Central played a strong defensive game to give Cloquet just their third loss of the season. Defensively Cloquet turned four double plays.
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Cloquet rebounded from the rare loss with a 15-2 win behind the four-hit pitching of Tyler Tollerud who shut Central down. Cloquet crushed 20 hits in the win.
Last Monday, Cloquet throttled Proctor 12-3 as Jake Horn and Nathaniel Schulz each had two hits and Tollerud tossed a five-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
"These VFW players have been a joy to work with because they don't pretend to know everything, so they apply what is being taught and emphasized," mentioned Jezierski. "Kids like Nathaniel Schulz and Travis Smedshammer have made great strides since last spring in the gym and give us hope for two more varsity contributors in the future."
Game two saw Cloquet destroy Proctor 21-5, as Joey Singpiel and Peter LaCourse each had three hits, while Connor Stowell, Tollerud, Smedshammer, Schulz and Jezierski all had two hits. Cloquet rapped out 18 hits in the game.
Horn picked up the pitching win with relief help from August Reynolds and Schulz as Cloquet improved to 18-3 on the season.
"The overall record of the team speaks for itself," explained Jezierski. "I give coaches Stowell and Ojanen credit. Each of us have different day-to-day family and professional lives going, and those two have picked up the slack to make sure certain things are getting started, completed and accomplished."
