ESKO, Minn. - At the beginning of the spring baseball season, Esko head coach Ben Haugen had a feeling that with the talent of his boys, they could make a pretty deep run into the playoffs.
And Haugen was right. A deep run into the playoffs is what they got.
By using their timely hitting and stellar defense throughout the season, the Eskomos finished the year with a 13-11 overall mark. Their pitching, however, was the key factor in guiding them to a Section 7AA third-place finish after a season-ending loss to Cloquet.
"Pitching wins you games down the stretch," said Haugen. "And our pitchers pitched unbelievably well. They really kept us alive."
Though Esko lost to the Lumberjacks and placed third - just like a year ago - the boys were playing some very good baseball at the very end.
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"We had a rollercoaster season," said Haugen. "We kind of limped into the playoffs and people were counting us out. But the boys worked hard and we played our best ball late in the season. I was really proud of our kids."
The Eskomos lose eight seniors before next season, but with a handful of young talent returning to the ball field next spring, one can look for another deep run into the playoffs for Haugen and his group.
