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The Viking baseball team lost 16-7 to Chisago Lakes at North Branch April 25 in a game that was a lot more exciting than the score would indicate.

The Wildcats tagged Viking starter Dominic Stahley with three first inning runs. Chris Becklin relieved Stahley, but wasn’t any more effective as CL scored two in the second and six more in the third.

Meanwhile, the Vikings picked up two in the second. At the end of three, the game seemed out of reach for the Vikes.

Trailing 11-2, North Branch head coach Steve Christensen replaced Becklin with Matt Warren. With Warren on the hill, the Vikings held the ‘Cats scoreless for the next three innings.

The Vikings crawled back into the game by scoring one in the fourth, two in the fifth and two more in the sixth. But the Vikings stranded runners in scoring position and trailed 11-7 after six.

Chisago Lakes put an end to the drama with five runs in its half of the seventh to make the final 16-7. Stahley took the loss and Bob LeVasseur picked up the win for the Wildcats.

Tony Dahlberg led the Viking batters with two hits and two runs scored. Warren, Jeff Olson and Kyle Kaminski each drove in single runs for the home team.

Chisago Lakes 326 000 5 16

North Branch 020 122 0 7

At St. Francis April 27, the Vikings fell behind early, again and were unable to catch up on the way to a 7-3 conference loss.

The Saints scored three in the first and added two more in the third. They led 5-0 through four. The Vikings rallied for three in the fifth, but couldn’t get any more across the plate.

St. Francis plated one in the fifth and another in the sixth to make the final score 7-3.

Tony Dahlberg started on the mound and took the loss for NB. He gave up 10 hits and six earned runs while walking one and striking out seven. Matt Warren and Kyle Kaminski led the Viking offense with two hits and an RBI each.

North Branch 000 030 0 3

St. Francis 302 011 x 7

“We battled back in each of the games this week.  We cut the leads the other team had and, in one case, we had the tying runner at the plate.

 “We played two teams that didn’t quit.  When we got close, like good teams, they shut us down and extended their leads,” said Christensen.

NB at Spring Lake Park

May 2, the Vikings traveled to Spring Lake Park. NB held SLP scoreless in five four of six innings, but a seven run second spoiled the trip and the Panthers won 9-4.

North Branch scored two in the fourth one in the fifth and their last in the seventh, but never got closer than a five run deficit.

Chris Becklin went the distance for the Vikings. He gave up 14 hits and six earned runs while striking out three and walking one. JT Lindholm and Dominic Stahley both went two for three and Matt Warren drove two runs in. Tony Dahlberg and DJ Charley had the other RBI’s for the Vikes.

North Branch 000 210 1 4

Sp. Lake Park 070 200 x 9

“We haven’t had too many games that we haven’t been close.  My hope is to turn the corner and to start winning these close ones.  We’d like to be on the other side of these games and we aren’t that far away from doing it,” said Christensen.

 “Spring Lake Park did a very good job of hitting the ball where it was pitched. They used the whole field well. We hit the ball hard a couple of times, but they didn't want to fall for us,” the coach added.

North Branch at Chisago Lakes

The Vikings lost to the Wildcats May 4 by a score of 7-3 in a game played under the lights.

“This game was a lot of fun... filled with intensity.  I hope to bring that intensity to every game the rest of the season,” said Christensen.

The Vikings starter, Tony Dahlberg, kept the Wildcats off the board for the first two innings. However, the Wildcats broke into the scoring column with three runs in the bottom of the third. The Vikings closed the gap to 3-2 with single runs in fourth and fifth.

Chisago Lakes regained the three run lead with two in its half of the fifth. Trailing 5-2, NB scored its last run, in the sixth, to trail 5-3. The Wildcats came right back with the game’s final two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-3 in favor of CL.

North Branch 000 111 0 3

Chisago Lakes 003 022 x 7

Despite outhitting Chisago 10-8, the Vikings could only get three runners home. Marty Savage led the Viking hit parade by going 3 for 4. “Marty had been struggling to find some green.  He has a great swing, but hadn’t been lucky enough to hit it where they weren’t,” Christensen said. Speaking about DJ Charley, who went 3 for 3 for the Vikings, the coach said, “We’ve put him in that DH role and he’s really come through for us, getting on, or moving runners around.  He really rips the ball.

“Unfortunately, it was small mistakes that hurt us tonight.  A balk by Tony (Dahlberg) and two infield throws could have made it a different ball game.

 “It’s tough to look at a record (2-9) that appears simply sub-par. But, we’ve had opportunities in most every game to either take a commanding lead, or take over the lead.  I know we would all like to have a 9-2, or even a 5-6 record, but that isn’t the hand that has been dealt to us.  The toughest part is that there isn’t any one thing that has been plaguing our performances, just mishandling clutch chances at the plate or in the field,” Christensen concluded.

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