Nappanee, Ind. – June 2, 2023 – The Vikings made the long drive out to Northwood Field of Dreams on Friday to play the Elkhart County Miracle and they made sure the trip was worthwhile.

An eight run fourth inning opened the floodgates for the Vikings enroute to a 16-2 win over the Miracle in the first ever matchup between the two teams.

The Vikings struck first with two runs scoring on a wild pitch by Miracle starter Ty Mickiewicz after the Vikings strung together three consecutive two out hits to load the bases.

The Miracle would score a run in the bottom of the first to make it a 2-1 Vikings lead, and the score remained that way heading into the fourth.

An Alexander Las walk started the fourth and by the time the Miracle could record three outs, the Vikings had sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs off of three different Miracle pitchers.

On the mound, two-time Northern League All-Star Nolan Vlcek (1-0) picked up the win in his first start of the season, tossing 5 2/3 innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on just four hits.

“He sets the tone. When your starting pitcher is good and he doesn’t want to come out, everybody else wants to play hard and win,” manager Sullivan Stickann said of Vlcek. “I love his energy and it’s really infectious on the guys.”

Vlcek was followed by Western Michigan teammate Mike Kelly, who tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his first Northern League appearance.

“This is exactly what I was hoping it would be like,” Kelly said of his first experience in the Northern League. “Really it is even better than what I expected.”

The Vikings (2-0) take on the Indiana Panthers (0-3) on Saturday night from Highland High School, starting at 5pm. The teams will first finish their suspended game from May 30, which is tied 7-7 entering the tenth inning. That game will be immediately followed by the regularly scheduled game, which will be seven innings.