The Cloquet American Legion baseball team bowed out of the playoffs last Wednesday after dropping back-to-back games against Grand Rapids and Thunder Bay, Ontario.

“Against Grand Rapids we got beat 7-1, but we played a clean game defensively,” said Cloquet coach Tyler Olin. “We had a chance to get out of the one big inning they had, but just couldn’t make the play. Other than that, the guys played a good ball game.”

The second inning was the downfall for Cloquet, as they gave up five runs to fall behind 5-0. Cloquet answered with a run in the top of the fourth, but single tallies in the fifth and sixth gave the win to Grand Rapids.

Brody Duskin and Luke Keating each had a double for Cloquet and Kade Kolodge took the loss on the mound, giving up six earned runs on seven hits.

In the 12-2 loss to Thunder Bay, the defense failed Cloquet as they committed seven errors and they gave up seven unearned runs.

“We just gave them too many extra outs and they took advantage of them,” said Olin.

Cloquet finishes the season with a 3-15 record.

“Yes, it would have been nice to win more games and go to a state tournament,” Olin said. “The biggest thing is we gave the guys a lot of extra innings to get in at bats, pitch, catch and learn new positions, and hopefully that will help us next high school season.”

In a rare twist, Cloquet will be eligible to return its entire roster next season, which bodes well for the future.