Esko's first baseball state championship, which wrapped up with a 9-0 drubbing of Perham in the Class 2A final, was certainly impressive in the way the Eskomos shut down their three opponents in the Class 2A tournament. The three pitchers Esko used in the tournament gave up only seven hits and two runs in total.
At the start of the season, both coaches and players knew Esko could hit.
"We could see it in the spring, hitting in the cages and in the gym. We couldn't wait for the snow to melt to get outside," said junior Finn Furcht, who started in Wednesday's semifinals. "We could see how good we were going to be."
What opened head coach Ben Haugen's eyes was their pitching and defense.
"We have some big boys, so we knew we could do some damage at the plate," Haugen said. "What's hidden about our team is out pitching staff. We got three unbelievable pitching performances in this tournament. You get in these games against good teams and the margin of error is so small. That's why pitching wins championships."
Junior Dylan Marciulionis took the mound for Esko Friday with the goal of matching the performances his pitching brethren showed in the tournament's first two games. He was up to the task, shutting down Perham on three hits.
Meanwhile, the Esko bats came alive. They got a run in the top of the second inning, then broke the game open with five more in the fifth. The first four Eskomos reached base as they batted around, taking a 6-0 lead.
Esko scored two more in the sixth and Furcht put a bow on its week with a long home run in the seventh.
