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By Chuck Fitzer

Chisago Lakes 6,

Big Lake 1

The Chisago Lakes Wildcats began their trek towards a state tournament berth with a 6-1 victory over the Big Lake Hornets at the opening game of the Section 7AAA North Subsection playoffs on Tuesday, May 31 at Chisago Lakes High School.

Big Lake got on the scoreboard in the first inning, with a single, a stolen base and two more singles accounting for their lone run of the game. The Wildcats evened the score at one run apiece after Shawn Rancourt singled with two outs and leadoff hitter Zack Stimson tripled to drive him in.

The Wildcats broke the game open in the fifth. Singles by Carl Lee, Lance Baumgard and Levi Jones loaded the bases with no outs. After the next batter fouled out to the catcher, Stimson again came through with a big hit, singling to drive in two runs. With two outs, Kyle Collins singled to once again load the bases and Adam Gemuenden singled to drive in two more runs and put the Wildcats up by four. The Wildcats tacked on another run in the fifth as, once again, Stimson singled to drive in pinch runner Anthony Mansk. Pitcher Derrick Olson shut down the Hornets in the seventh to finish off a complete game, and the final score was Wildcats 6, Hornets 1.

“Derrick pitched a great game,” said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “And Stimson led the way with four runs batted in from the leadoff spot. It really helps when you get that kind of production from your leadoff hitter.”

Chisago Lakes 7,

St. Francis 6

The Wildcats were right back at it Thursday, June 2, facing the St. Francis Fighting Saints in the Section 7AAA North Subsection playoffs at Chisago for the right to go to the four-team section playoffs. The Wildcats took a 7-2 lead into the top of the seventh and, after a furious rally by the Saints, hung on for a 7-6 victory.

Zack Stimson started things off right away for the Wildcats, reaching base on an error in the first inning. Mark Unger singled and Kyle Collins walked to load the bases. Stimson scored on a wild pitch to put the Wildcats on top. After the next batter struck out, Derrick Olson drove in Unger with a grounder to the shortstop. Both Collins and Olson were safe on the play as the shortstop made an error. After the next batter forced Collins at third with a grounder, Lance Baumgard singled to drive in Olson and put the Wildcats up 3-0 after one inning.

But the Saints came right back on the top of the second inning. A Saint player doubled with two outs and a runner on first to score one run, and the other run scored on an infield error to bring the Saints to within one run.

The Wildcats got those two runs back in the fourth. Starting pitcher Isaac Dibble and Stimson both singled with one out. A double by Collins plated Dibble, and a single by Adam Gemuenden scored Stimson. Collins was thrown out at home on the play, but the Wildcats still led 5-2 after four innings.

The Wildcats scored again in the fifth. Carl Lee and Lance Baumgard singled with one out. They both moved up a base on a wild pitch. Shawn Rancourt then hit a sacrifice fly to score Lee. Starting pitcher Isaac Dibble helped his own cause by driving in Baumgard with a two-out single to put the Wildcats up 7-2.

The Wildcats looked to have this one wrapped up, but the Fighting Saints suddenly came alive in the seventh inning. Dibble gave up a leadoff single in the seventh and came out in favor of lefty Jake Kuehl. Kuehl got the first batter to ground out. But then things got interesting. Two Wildcat errors sandwiched around a double led to two Saints runs and runners on first and third with one out. The Saints DH hit a fly ball to center fielder Mark Unger for the second out. The Saints, though, refused to yield. After the next batter singled to drive in the Saints’ third run of the inning, Corey Claeson came in to close out the game. With runners at first and third, Claeson gave up a single that pulled the Saints to within one run. Clausen walked the next batter, and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. The bases were loaded with two outs and the Wildcats leading by one. Clausen worked the count to 1-2. He threw a wicked curve ball that buckled the knees of the Saints hitter as he took it for a called strike three. As the dejected Saint batter walked slowly back toward the third base dugout, the Wildcats celebrated their 7-6 victory.

“Wow!” exclaimed Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “That was fun. I know the parents agonize over close games like this, but that’s why we enjoy this game of baseball. Our hitters did a great job. We pounded out 11 hits. I can’t say enough about Ike Dibble’s pitching performance. He pitched a beautiful game – six innings, no earned runs. That was great. He was in a lot of pain, but didn’t let me know that during the game. I have never been prouder of a player.”

Chisago Lakes 10,

Duluth East 5

The Chisago Lakes Wildcats opened the Section 7AAA double-elimination tournament with a 10-5 victory over the Duluth East Greyhounds in a 1:00 p.m. start on Monday, June 6 at St. Francis.

The Greyhounds scored two runs in the second, the first one on a double with one out. The Wildcats came up with a huge play as the next batter singled up the middle. The Greyhound player tried to score from second, but was gunned down by center fielder Mark Unger at the plate for the second out of the inning. The Greyhounds added another run after two more singles, but Unger’s play helped to keep it from becoming a bigger inning for the Greyhounds. And Unger did his part on the offensive end in the top of the third as he homered with one out to bring the Wildcats back within one run.

The Greyhounds added three more runs in the sixth inning on a walk, two hits, a groundout and a sacrifice fly.

Down 5-1, the Wildcats only had two innings left to avoid going to the loser’s bracket of the tournament. And they answered the challenge with a bang! Eleven Wildcats reached base in the inning, on five walks, two hit batters and four hits, to account for nine runs and gave the Wildcats a 10-5 lead. Starting pitcher Derrick Olson pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and the Wildcats advanced to the winner’s bracket of the section tournament.

“We were patient,” said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “We kept telling the kids to make East play all seven innings. We were snakebit early but scored nine runs in the sixth to get the win. Derrick Olson pitched a complete game under a hot sun to give us the victory.”

Chisago Lakes 4,

Grand Rapids 3

At 4 p.m., Monday, June 6, right after their game with Duluth East, the Wildcats put themselves in the driver’s seat for a berth in the state tournament with a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks.

The Wildcats scored the first run of the game in the third inning. David Olson singled, stole second and scored on a hit by the irrepressible Zack Stimson, who has made a habit of driving in runs. The Thunderhawks scored all of their runs in the fourth inning. Two doubles with one out led to their first run and, one out later, a two-run homer put the Thunderhawks up 3-1.

The Wildcats tied it up in the fourth. Kyle Collins was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Adam Gemuenden walked, and Derrick Olson singled to load the bases. Carl Lee hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Collins with the first run of the inning. After the next batter struck out, David Olson hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who made an error allowing Gemuenden to score and tying the game at three runs apiece.

The Wildcats scored the eventual winning run in the fifth. Stimson led off with a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Mark Unger followed with a single of his own and successfully stole second base. The steal was proved to be one of the key plays of the game and the season as the next batter, Kyle Collins, singled to score Unger and put the Wildcats up by one. The powerful Thunderhawks (who only had two losses up to this point of the season) managed a base runner in each of the last two innings, but were stymied by pitcher Zander Mueller as the Wildcats made their record 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament with a 4-3 win.

“Zander Mueller pitched a gem, said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “We weren’t even sure if he could start due to a hand injury. He ended up pitching a complete game, throwing only 75 pitches in seven innings and he beat a great team. Wow! I am very proud of Zander.”

Collins then talked about the contributions of two of his seniors. “Kyle Collins knocked in Mark Unger with the go-ahead run in the fifth inning,” he said. “Kyle and Mark have played on the same team since second grade, and I have seen that happen a lot of times with the two of them.”

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