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Even though the Chisago Lakes softball team fell short of their ultimate goal, their run for the hardware will be remembered for years to come. Nobody will remember where they finished, just how they got there.

Section 4AAA tournament

First round-

Chisago Lakes 4

Champlin Park 3

The Wildcats opened up the 2003 postseason with nine seed Champlin Park at home last Tuesday. Right from the start, Steve Fisher made it clear that in a section where five teams are rated in the top ten in state, seedings don’t mean a whole lot.

“I knew at 10-8 or whatever their record was, the competition they play is tough,” commented Fisher, head Chisago Lakes softball coach. “I knew it was going to be a 2-1, 3-2 type ballgame. We went out there focusing on that game and that’s it, because in the first round, one game is all that’s guaranteed.”

The urgency was evident from both teams, specifically Champlin Park, who shocked the home crowd, striking for three runs in the second off Wildcat starter Becca Ploog.

It didn’t take long for the ‘Cats to respond. Batting in the bottom of the third, Kim Lapinoja and Katie Reed connected for back-to-back singles before Sarah Ploog brought in Lapinoja with a single of her own making it 3-1. After a Rachel Nelson fly ball, Chelsea Stimson added to the Wildcats total with another single, pulling them within one at 3-2.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth when Chisago fought back to tie. Possibly playing in her last game, senior Emily Jokinen came around to score thanks to a Champlin Park error, tying the game 3-3. The Chisago momentum was mounting and so was the drama.

Becca Ploog stayed steady on the mound late in the game. Despite putting a base runner on in each of the last three innings, the Rebels were unable to score, giving Chisago Lakes a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. The inning began harmless enough. Reed and Sarah Ploog were both retired to lead-off the seventh, giving Nelson the unenviable task of mounting a two-out rally. Nelson accepted the challenge.

Batting from the left side, the junior blistered a triple to right field, putting the winning run at third for Stimson. Even Fisher knew what was going to happen next.

“I thought we were going extra innings until Rachel got that hit. Chelsea has been hot at the plate the last half of the season,” remarked Fisher. “She’s raised her average to .517. I wouldn’t bet against her.”

Fisher didn’t and neither did the Wildcats. Down two strikes in the count, Stimson delivered arguably her most important hit of her high school career, singling through the hole into left, giving Chisago a 4-3 comeback win.

The celebration was short-lived. The ‘Cats reward was an immediate bus ride to North St. Paul and a meeting with the number one team in state, Anoka. So much for letting it soak in.

“We had about two minutes to celebrate,” remembered Fisher. “It was tough but that’s where we wanted to be. Our expectations were to just go down there and play our game and see what happened.”

Chisago Lakes 4,

Champlin Park 3

R H E

Champlin Park 030 000 0 3 5 3

Chisago Lakes 002 100 1 4 8 2

Reed 1-4, R

Sarah Ploog 1-4, RBI

Nelson 2-4, R

Stimson 2-4, 2 RBI

Cook 0-3

Cunningham 1-3

Becca Ploog 0-3

Jokinen 0-3, R

Lapinoja 1-2, R

WP: Becca Ploog

7 IP, 5 H, 9 K

Section 4AAA tournament

Second round-

Anoka 4

Chisago Lakes 0

To put it mildly, the odds were not in their favor. Just hours after taking down Champlin Park in seven innings, the Wildcats locked horns with the best team in the state of Minnesota in Class 3A, the 21-0 Anoka Tornadoes.

The main reason for the Tornadoes success lands solely on the shoulders of their starting pitcher Allison Bakke. Just a junior, Bakke entered the game with a 13-0 record and had yet to give up an earned run all season.

“We talked about it on the bus on the way down there,” said Fisher. “We just stressed that we need to do what we do on the field and let everything take care of itself. We wanted to show them that we can compete.”

Compete they did, win they did not.

Scoreless in the third, Anoka surged onto the scoreboard, scoring two runs, both unearned. Meanwhile at the plate, Bakke lived up to the billing, striking out six through the first three innings and not allowing her first hit until the fourth.

“You can’t make any miscues against a team like that and expect to win,” remarked Fisher. “She (Bakke) was the real deal and that was the story.”

After Anoka scored two more unearned runs in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead, Bakke cleaned up in the seventh. The junior finished the game with 14 strikeouts while Chisago was only able to muster three hits in the 4-0 loss.

“Everyone in our line-up that batted three times struck out twice,” said Fisher. “Chelsea, who has only struck out seven times in three years was one of them, so she lived up to the hype. A loss is a loss but you have to put it into perspective and move on. You never like to lose but we played well and showed them we can hang with them.”

Despite not allowing an earned run, Becca Ploog suffered the loss, going six innings and striking out two. The loss dropped the Wildcats into the losers bracket and a matchup with North St. Paul.

Anoka 4, Chisago Lakes 3

R H E

Chisago Lakes 000 000 0 0 3 3

Anoka 002 002 X 4 6 0

Reed 1-3

Sarah Ploog 0-3

Nelson 0-3

Stimson 1-3

Cook 0-3

Cunningham 0-3

Becca Ploog 1-2

Jokinen 0-2

Lapinoja 0-1

LP: Becca Ploog

Section 4AAA tournament

Losers Bracket-

North St. Paul 6

Chisago Lakes 5 (13 inn.)

It’s like UFO’s, even though most of us have never seen one doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The same can be said about a 13 inning playoff softball game. 13 innings is way too long......Isn’t it? For those at last Friday’s section loser-out game between Chisago Lakes and North St. Paul, they can now add their name to the list of believers.

Let’s put it this way....The game began at 4:00 p.m. and finished at 7:30! Certainly the marathon is one we won’t soon forget. For the Wildcats, they can’t forget.

Quiet until the second, the Wildcats jumped out in front after Stimson led-off the inning with a single. After a Nelson single, Erin Cunningham smacked the ‘Cats third hit of the inning, scoring Stimson for the 1-0 lead.

The Polars battled back to tie in the fourth only to have Chisago pounce on them again in the fifth. Tied at one, back-to-back singles by Walbridge and Stimson put two runners on with two outs for Koryn Cook. Behind in the count, Cook laced a two run double to left centerfield, helping the Wildcats grab the lead right back. They weren’t done. Up 3-1, Sarah Ploog added another RBI double in the sixth, increasing the Chisago lead to three runs.

North St. Paul was not about to lay down as the Polars mounted a fierce rally. Aided by a Wildcat error, North St. Paul strung together three runs on two hits, tying the game at three. Chisago Lakes was able to get two runners on in the seventh before the Polars retired the side forcing what was about to become the most exciting extra inning games in Wildcat history.

Both teams mirrored one another in the extra session. After Chisago put two runners aboard in the eighth and failed to score, the Polars responded with a base runner of their own, stranding her at first. In the tenth, the pattern continued. Becca Ploog led-off the top of the tenth with a single for Chisago before Katie Reed joined her on the bases. With one out, Walbridge came through with what looked like the hit everyone had been waiting for, singling in Ploog for the go ahead run. Chisago went for a two run lead later in the inning on a fly ball but Reed was thrown out at the plate trying to score. The out would prove to be huge.

Just like clockwork, North St. Paul evened the game in the bottom of the tenth on a RBI double. The game that would never end showed no signs of slowing down.

Both teams traded jabs for the next two innings, each putting runners on base but failing to come through with the clutch hit. That is until the 13th when the game that would never end did.

With a runner standing at second, the Polars got their hit, a blast to the gap that easily scored the game winning run. The final, North St. Paul 6, Chisago Lakes 5 in 13 innings.

“It was our game to win or lose,” remarked Fisher. “There was a little drainage from the girls in the eighth and ninth but in the tenth, they fired back and got stronger. We had our opportunities. We got 19 hits in the game. I don’t really know what else we could’ve done.”

Not much. Along with Chisago’s 19 hits, the Wildcats committed just one error. North St. Paul finished the game with 12 hits.

“We were looking for two wins but the kids got some exposure. You can’t be satisfied with a 13 inning loss but we competed with them and you have to adjust your standards,” said Fisher. “I was pretty satisfied with everything. It’s going to be really tough saying goodbye to our seniors, our team banquet is going to be tough. I think we showed a lot of people some things and we should be proud with the way the season went.”

Chisago Lakes finished the season 17-6 overall.

North St. Paul 6

Chisago Lakes 5 (13 inn.)

R H E

CL 010 021 000 100 0 5 19 1

NSP 000 103 000 100 1 6 12 0

Reed 2-7

Sarah Ploog 3-6, RBI

Walbridge 2-6, RBI, R

Stimson 4-5, 2 R

Cook 1-6, 2 RBI

Cunningham 2-6, RBI

Jokinen 1-7, R

Becca Ploog 3-6, R

LP: Becca Ploog

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