• Article Photo. A week of Viking baseball milestones: Tanner Davis hit his first home run; Coach Jim Struve earned his 600th win as VS baseball coach.
    A week of Viking baseball milestones: Tanner Davis hit his first home run; Coach Jim Struve earned his 600th win as VS baseball coach.
A week of Viking baseball milestones: Tanner Davis hit his first home run; Coach Jim Struve earned his 600th win as VS baseball coach. Wednesday's torrential rains interrupted the Vinton-Shellsburg baseball team's quest to earn Win No. 600 for Coach Jim Struve. After defeating Anamosa, 12-2 on Wednesday, the storm came, forcing the postponement of the second game. That contest was rescheduled for the next day. The Vikings and Raiders played an unusual afternoon game on Thursday, and Blake Bohnsack threw a no-hitter as the Vikings won 10-0. There was no big formal celebration, although one Viking mom bought balloons for Coach Struve, and other VS parents bought pizza for the team. Struve, acccording to the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association Win Club page, has become the 52nd baseball coach to lead a high school team to 600 wins. The other coach to do that this year was Dick Smith of Ogden. Struve now ranks in the top 25 among active coaches. "It was a memorable win," said Struve, a Vinton native and former Vinton player who is now in his 25th year of coaching. Coach Struve passed the 500 milestone in May of 2013. See a story and photos of that celebration HERE. The active high school baseball coach with the most wins in Iowa is Dennis Olenjniczak of Decorah, who entered this season with nearly 1,400 wins. The overall record of 1,754 wins belongs to retired Lansing Kee High of Lansing coach Gene Schulz. Coach Struve offered the following summary of the wins over Anamosa.
Game 1
Vikings Win 12-2 in 5 Innings over Anamosa at Viking Field. Nathan Struve led the Viking offensive attack with 2 hits, a double and 3 RBI's, Tanner Davis added an RBI Double. Wes Edwards, Jared Thompson, Conner Miracle had 2 RBI's a piece. Scott Betterton allowed only 3 hits and struck out 8 batters to get the Win. The rain postponed Game 2 to Thursday at 1:00pm
Game 2
Vikings Win 10-0 in 5 Innings to Sweep Anamosa at Viking Field. Blake Bohnsack pitched a "No-Hitter"--- striking out 6 batters and allowing 2 walks. Bohnsack and David Bray each had 2 hits and scored 3 times. Scottie Wirth, Will Edwards, and Wes Edwards each had RBI Doubles.
Vikings host Mount Vernon on Friday at 5:00pm at Viking Field for a Conference double header.