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Cambridge 7, Chisago Lakes 6

(9 innings)

The Wildcats blew a five-run lead and lost in extra innings 7-6 to the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Tuesday, April 4 at Cambridge.

Bluejacket pitchers walked five Wildcat batters and all five players who walked scored. But the Wildcat defense returned the favor. The Wildcats made four errors on the day, leading to five unearned runs for the Bluejackets.

Bob LeVasseur and Jeff Hollister walked with one out in the top of the second inning. Sophomore catcher Eric Reed stepped up to the plate and unloaded on the first varsity pitch he ever saw, nearly driving the ball out of the park. The ball hit the center field wall on the fly and Reed ended up with a double, driving in LeVasseur with the Wildcats’ first run of the season. Shane Butcher followed with a two-run double to deep left to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.

After the Bluejackets scored an unearned run off of starter LeVasseur in the bottom of the second, the Wildcats came right back with two more runs. Adam Gemuenden and LeVasseur walked. This time Hollister ripped a double to drive them both in and make the score 5-1.

The Wildcats added a run in the sixth on a walk by Hollister and successive singles by Butcher and David Willhite. The Wildcats carried what looked like a comfortable five-run lead into the bottom of the sixth.

But, in the bottom of the sixth, the wheels came off for the Wildcats. The first two Bluejacket batters reached base by error. With one out, the Wildcats botched a potential double play ball and all hands were safe. The next batter singled in two runs. After the second out and a walk, another Cambridge batter singled in two more runs and the Wildcat lead was down to 6-5.

The Bluejackets tied it in the bottom of the seventh as a one-out single scored the tying run, sending the game into extra innings. Cambridge won it in the bottom of the ninth on a bunt single, stolen base and another single. The final score was Cambridge-Isanti 7, Chisago Lakes 6.

“I was pleased with our performance in this game,” said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “It’s tough to play outside when you’ve hardly even practiced outside yet. I liked our hitters, and I thought our pitchers threw well. I like this team.”

Chisago Lakes 032 001 000 6

Cambridge-Isanti 010 004 101 7

Battery: CL LeVasseur, Kaiser (5), Claeson (6) and Reed

AB R H RBI

Stimson, cf 5 0 0 0

Claeson, ss, p 5 0 0 0

Fitzer, ph 1 0 1 0

Baumgard, 3b, ss 5 1 0 0

Gemuenden,1b 4 0 1 0

LeVasseur, p, 2b, 3b 3 2 0 0

Hollister, dh 2 2 1 2

Reed, c 4 1 1 1

Butcher, lf 4 0 2 2

Willhite, rf 4 0 3 1

2B—Reed (1), Hollister (1)

Hermantown 3, Chisago Lakes 2

The Wildcats lost their second one-run game in a row, this time at home to the 15th-ranked Hermantown Hawks 3-2 at Chisago Lakes Saturday, April 8.

The Wildcats fell behind early as the Hawk third baseman hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first off starting pitcher Bob LeVasseur. The Wildcats got one back in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Zach Stimson walked and went to second on a groundout to third by Bob LeVasseur. Lance Baumgard singled to left, and Stimson scored when the Hawk left fielder misplayed the ball.

LeVasseur and reliever Dan Kaiser shut down the Hawks the rest of the way, allowing no earned runs in the final six inning of play.

But, the Hawks added an unearned run in the third. With one out and a runner on first, the Hawk batter launched a deep fly ball to center. The Wildcat left fielder and center fielder bumped into each other and the ball dropped in, allowing the Hawk runner to score all the way from first to make the score 3-1.

The Wildcats rallied in the sixth. Baumgard doubled to left with one out. Adam Gemuenden singled to score Baumgard, but was cut down trying to go to second after the throw home. Eric Reed flew out to end the inning.

The Wildcats got a runner to second base in the seventh. With two outs, Tommy Fitzer laid down a bunt toward third base. The pitcher fielded it but threw wildly to first, allowing Fitzer to advance to second. Jake Kuehl then hit a ball to right-center filed gap, but the Hawk right fielder was able to track it down and make the catch to end the game.

“We played a good team today,” said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “We had some miscommunication on the fly ball that led to their third run, but overall we played pretty well, even though we didn’t quite win. And with all the new players we have, I’m starting to see who can do what.”

Hermantown 201 000 0 3

Chisago Lakes 100 001 0 2

Battery: CL LeVasseur, Kaiser (5) and Reed

AB R H RBI

Stimson, cf 2 1 0 0

LeVasseur, p, 3b 3 0 0 0

Baumgard, 3b, ss 3 1 2 0

Gemuenden, 1b 3 0 1 1

Reed, c 3 0 1 0

Hollister, rf 3 0 0 0

Mc Cullough, rf 0 0 0 0

Willhite, lf 2 0 0 0

Butcher, lf 0 0 0 0

Kopp, 2b 0 0 0 0

Fitzer, dh 3 0 1 0

Claeson, ss 2 0 0 0

Kaiser, p 0 0 0 0

Kuehl, ph 1 0 0 0

2B—Reed (2), Baumgard (1); SB—Reed (1), Stimson (1)

CL 6, Duluth Central 2

Left-hander Jake Kuehl dominated Duluth Central, allowing no runs and just two hits in five innings as the Wildcats beat the Trojans 6-2 at Chisago Lakes Saturday, April 8. The win was the Wildcats’ first of the season.

The Wildcats jumped on the Trojans early. With two on and one out in the bottom of the first, Adam Gemuenden doubled to deep right- center field to drive in two runs. With two outs, Eric Reed singled to drive in Gemuenden. Reed was thrown out when he got caught between first and second on the play. But, Gemuenden crossed the plate first, so the run counted. In the third, Gemuenden reached first on an error. After Jeff Hollister walked, Reed singled Gemuenden in to give the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.

The Wildcats stretched their lead to six in the fourth. Stimson doubled and Lance Baumgard walked. Gemuenden and Hollister each came up with a run-scoring single. The Trojans scored two runs off of reliever Mike Welle in the bottom of the sixth, but Welle shut down the Trojans in the seventh and the Wildcats came away with a 6-2 victory.

“We hit well in this one,” said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. “Jake Kuehl pitched a great game. In fact, all of our pitchers have pitched well so far this season. And Cory Claeson played a great game at short for us.”

Duluth Central 000 002 0 3

Chisago Lakes 301 200 x 6

Battery: CL Kuehl, Welle (6) and Reed, Fitzer (6)

AB R H RBI

Stimson, dh 4 2 3 0

Butcher, cf 0 0 0 0

Willhite, cf 0 0 0 0

LeVasseur, lf 3 1 0 0

Baumgard, 3b 2 1 0 0

Kaiser, 3b 1 0 0 0

Gemuenden, 1b 4 2 2 3

Hollister, rf 2 0 1 0

Mc Cullough, rf 0 0 0 0

Reed, c 3 0 2 2

Fitzer, c 0 0 0 0

Kuehl, p 1 0 1 0

Jones, 2b 0 0 0 0

Welle, 2b 2 0 0 0

Kopp, ph 1 0 0 0

Claeson, ss 2 0 0 0

2B—Stimson (1), Gemuenden (1); SB—Stimson 2 (3), Claeson (1)

The Wildcats are scheduled to play three conference opponents in a row. They were scheduled to host the Totino-Grace Eagles at Chisago Lakes field on Tuesday, April 11. Today, Thursday, April 13, they travel to St. Francis to take on the Saints at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, they’ll be on the road at Spring Lake Park at 4:15.

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