A pair of superb pitching efforts, first by lefty Joe Lewis (Coon Rapids/Totino Grace), then by right-hander Jared Vance (Brooklyn Park/Maranatha), helped Anoka-Ramsey open the up-north portion of its 2016 baseball season with a pair of victories.

Lewis a freshman, struck out 13 and gave up one hit in stifling UW-Barron County of Rice Lake, Wi. 8-0 in the first game, while the inimitable sophomore Vance

scattered three hits and struck out five in shutting out Vermilion Community College 10-0 in six innings in the second game.

Both pitchers owned a commanding presence on this April 3 afternoon on the Wintercrest West field in Coon Rapids in different manners.

Lewis used a combination of power and breaking pitches to run his season strikeout total to 23. He had a no-hitter going for five and two-thirds innings until he was tagged for an opposite-field single by UW-Barron County's clean-up hitter Nick Buss.

In contrast, Vance relied on big curve ball to keep Vermilion batters off balance in dropping his team-leading earned run average to a mere 0.89.

In the first game, Anoka-Ramsey was led by freshman first baseman Brennan Beese(Elk River), who drove in three runs. In the second game, sophomore second baseman Jordan Langness (Somerset) hit his first collegiate home run, a hit that was complemented by three teammates, who each collected three hits: designated hitter Justin Reeves (Coon Rapids), shortstop Zack Waalen (Somerset) and left fielder Austin Greiner (Rogers).