Duluth, Minn. – The Crown baseball team finished up their 2016 campaign with a doubleheader at St. Scholastica.  The Saints needed to win just one to clinch their 20^th consecutive conference championship while the Storm were looking to get to .500 on the season despite being eliminated from postseason contention.

Crown hung around in game one, even holding a 3-2 lead after the top of the fourth, but eventually lost 9-3.  Game two was not as favorable as the Saints jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first and never looked back, winning 21-1 in seven innings.

Daryl Taylor and Travis Walker singles gave Crown a 3-2 lead after the top of the fourth in game one and starter Gideon Dunn was solid, but a pair of costly errors led to five unearned runs and Crown couldn't recover to contend.

Harry Ballantyne, Taylor, and David Cruz each had two hits at the top of the Crown order, but couldn't come around to score as the rest of the team managed just three hits for the game.
 
Game two was almost without highlight for the Storm, with a Berend Schnabel fielder's choice in the top of the seventh that scored Jared Musser the only run Crown could muster. 

Despite the disappointing ending, the Storm won more games than the previous season for the fourth year in a row and have a bright 2017 to look forward to as many key players will return to contend for the program's first UMAC playoff berth.