July 13, 2006 at 8:27 a.m.
Chisago Lakes Legion baseball team beats Pine City on Gemuenden's three run blast in the ninth inning
Chisago Lakes Legion baseball team beats Pine City on Gemuenden's three run blast in the ninth inning
Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver used to say his formula for winning was “pitching, defense and three-run homers.” The Chisago Lakes Wildcats American Legion baseball team adhered to that Formula Wednesday, June 29 as they defeated the Pine City Dragons 6-3 in extra innings at Pine City.
The pitching came from Bob LeVasseur. LeVasseur pitched all nine innings, allowing just two earned runs on 11 hits. He struck out seven as he pitched his way out of several jams, including a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the bottom of the eighth.
On defense, the Wildcats picked off one baserunner, threw out another one on an attempted steal and nailed two more on the base paths after hits.
And the three-run homer came in the top of the ninth inning. The hard-throwing Pine City reliever was firing nothing but fastballs. On a 1-2 pitch, he left one over the plate and Adam Gemuenden blasted it over the right field wall to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead.
The Wildcats got on the board early. Chris Wille doubled off the left field wall with one out in the first inning and Gemuenden drove him in with a double off the center field wall. The Dragons tied it up 1-1 in the second on a Wildcat error with runners on second and third and two outs.
The Wildcats took the lead again in the top of the third. Wille singled with one out. Gemuenden grounded to short to force Wille. Gemuenden stole second and Eric Reed’s single moved him to third. Jeff Hollister singled to left to score Gemuenden. But the Dragons tied it up in the bottom of the third on a solo homer by the Dragon center fielder.
Dave Willhite singled and stole second to lead off the top of the fourth. Aaron Rivard walked. Willhite and Rivard moved up on a wild pitch and Willhite scored on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Nowack to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.
LeVasseur helped his own cause in the bottom of the fourth. After a one-out walk, LeVasseur picked the runner off first. In the fifth, the Dragon leadoff hitter reached on an error. But after LeVasseur struck out the next batter, catcher Ryan Rivard threw out the baserunner trying to steal second.
The Dragons rallied with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. The Dragon shortstop doubled to the right field wall. Next up was the Dragon center fielder, who was already three-for-three with a home run in the game. The Wildcat coach thought about intentionally walking him, but didn’t want to put the winning run on base. Sure enough, the batter ripped a hit to right. Right fielder Hollister scooped up the ball and fired it home, but the runner scored easily. As the batter tried to take second on the throw, catcher Rivard alertly threw the ball to second, nailing the runner for the third out and sending the game into extra innings.
Hollister led off the top of the eighth with a double, but was stranded at second. The Dragons threatened in the bottom of the eighth. The first batter doubled. The Wildcats intentionally walked the next batter to set up the force at third. LeVasseur struck out the next hitter for the first out. On a 2-2 count to the next batter, a wild pitch moved the runners to third and second. The batter was intentionally walked on a 3-2 count to load the bases. LeVasseur came up big, striking out the next batter on three pitches and getting the final hitter of the inning to fly out to center field.
The fireworks show came for the Wildcats in the top of the ninth. With one out, LeVasseur and Wille singled. Gemuenden followed with his blast to make the score 6-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, LeVasseur struck out the first hitter. The second batter singled. Up stepped the center fielder, who had gone four for four on the night. LeVasseur won this battle, inducing a foul popup to first for the second out. The next batter singled to right, but started to run toward second. After the ball came in to second baseman Wille from Hollister, Wille chased the runner back toward first, throwing the ball to first baseman Gemuenden, who applied the tag to put an exclamation point on a thrilling victory.
The Wildcats are 3-6 in League play this summer. They were scheduled to finish their regular season schedule with four games this week; Monday, July 10 at home against North Branch, Tuesday, July 11 at Cambridge and a doubleheader Wednesday, July 12 at St. Francis. Legion Playoffs start Tuesday, July 18 at a site yet to be determined.
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