April 26, 2007 at 1:55 p.m.
Wildcat baseball off to 7-0 start with four more wins
Wildcat baseball off to 7-0 start with four more wins
Chisago Lakes 10, Princeton 3
The Wildcats scored ten runs in the first four innings on their way to a 10-3 win over the Princeton Tigers Monday, April 16 at Chisago Lakes. Ryan Rivard went five innings for his first win of the season. Tim Johnson and Andy Slagle each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Rivard.
The Wildcats took advantage of nine walks issued by Tiger pitchers. In the first inning, Tom Fitzer singled with one out. Four of the next five Wildcats walked, forcing in two runs. In the second a hurried throw on Fitzer's bunt went over the first baseman's head, allowing courtesy runner Andrew Verhey to score all the way from second.
In the third, Bob LeVasseur led off with a single. Dan Kaiser's bad-hop single moved LeVasseur to third. With Kaiser running on a 1-0 pitch, Rivard ripped a double into the right field corner to score LeVasseur and Kaiser. Rivard scored when another hurried throw on a grounder by Fitzer sailed over the first baseman's head. LeVasseur, Kaiser, Andy Slagle and Johnson each drove in a run in the fourth inning for the Wildcats in the victory.
CL 8, Benilde St. Margaret's 4
The Wildcats went on the road for a conference game and came away with an impressive 8-4 victory over the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights Tuesday, April 17 in St. Louis Park. The game was marked by several strange plays.
Fitzer reached second on a throwing error in the top of the third inning. Adam Gemuenden singled to score Fitzer. With Gemuenden running on a 1-1 pitch, Jeff Hollister hit the ball up the middle. The ball hit Gemuenden just as he reached second and popped in the air. Gemuenden was ruled safe, and Hollister ended up on first with a single. Mike Welle singled to score Gemuenden and send Hollister to third, but was caught in a rundown for the first out of the inning. Hollister took off from third on the first pitch to Bob LeVasseur. LeVasseur bunted the ball about 30 feet down the first base line for a perfect suicide squeeze to put the Wildcats up 3-0.
In the fifth, Welle singled in two more runs and Eric Reed doubled in pinch runner Andrew Verhey to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead. The Red Knights got those runs back in the bottom of the fifth on four hits and a Wildcat error.
The Red Knights ran themselves out of a potential rally in the sixth. The first batter was hit by a pitch. With one out, a Red Knight batter hit a slow grounder to short. It looked like the Wildcats would only get one out on the play. But, the base umpire ruled that the baserunner interfered with Welle's opportunity to complete the double play and called the batter out, too.
Eric Reed drove in another run with his second double of the game in the seventh. Aaron Rivard singled off the pitcher's leg, and Reed scored just ahead of the throw with a headfirst slide for the Wildcats' final run of the game. Benilde added a run in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score Chisago lakes 8, Benilde-St. Margaret's 4.
Dan Kaiser allowed three runs in four-plus innings to get the victory, and LeVasseur allowed just one run in the last three innings, finishing out the game with a strong pitching performance
Chisago Lakes 8, Irondale 7
Eric Reed's two-run homer to left broke a 6-6 tie in the sixth inning, leading the Wildcats to an 8-7 comeback victory over the Irondale Knights at Chisago Lakes Thursday, April 19.
The Wildcats scored two runs in the first inning. Andy Slagle led off with a double. Adam Gemuenden drove him in with a single, and Jeff Hollister doubled to score Gemuenden. The Knights scored a run in the top of the second. Slagle scored again in the bottom of the second after Gemuenden reached first on a two-out error.
The Knights scored an unearned run in the fourth. The Wildcats widened the gap again with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded, the first baseman fielded Hollister's slow roller and didn't throw it anywhere, allowing Slagle to score. Mike Welle walked to force in the other run and make the score 5-2.
The Wildcats committed three errors over the next two innings, allowing Irondale to score four unearned runs to take a 6-5 lead and setting the stage for Reed's heroics. In the bottom of the sixth, Hollister doubled off the top of the center field fence with one out. Mike Welle singled to send Hollister to third. Pinch runner Andrew Verhey stole second. Bob LeVasseur then came up with a big at-bat as he hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to tie the game at 6-6. Reed then came to the plate and blasted the first pitch over the left field wall to score Verhey and give the Wildcats an 8-6 lead.
The Knights opened the bottom of the seventh with a line single off pitcher Ryan Rivard's leg. Rivard was okay, and got the next two batters to ground out. But, the next two players singled, scoring one run and leaving runners on first and second with two outs. Rivard struck out the Knight cleanup hitter swinging on a 2-2 pitch, giving the Wildcats an ugly, but exciting, 8-7 victory.
CL6, Cambridge-Isanti 2
The Wildcats exploded for five runs in the third inning and Mike Welle pitched his second complete game of the season on the way to a 6-2 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Friday, April 20 at Chisago Lakes.
Jeff Hollister, Mike Welle and Chris Wille each singled to drive in a run in the third inning, and Aaron Rivard capped it off with a two-run single to give the Wildcats a 5-1 lead. That's all Welle and the Wildcat defense needed. The Bluejackets added a run in the bottom of the seventh, making the final score 5-2 in favor of the Wildcats.
"We got good pitching this week," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "We didn't allow more than three earned runs in any of the four games. We played very good defense, with the exception of the game against Irondale. And the players did a good job of situational hitting. They put the ball in play hard and got key hits when we needed them.
"Bob LeVasseur's sacrifice fly and Eric Reed's home run gave us a big lift and showed that we can come from behind to win. It's fun to start off the season 7-0. Part of that start is a tribute to our other coach, Jay Brown. We're lucky to have Jay around here to provide inspiration and excellent coaching," Collins added.
Collins then talked about his senior centerfielder, David Willhite. Willhite has already made a number of great plays in the outfield this year, including an over-the-head catch near the center field wall against Benilde. "When I hit fly balls to the outfielders" said Collins, "I like the fact that David helps the other players out. He leads by example, giving maximum effort and doing things the right way. And he also leads verbally, telling the other players what to do and how to do it."
Due to games rescheduled because of the cold, the Wildcats have another busy week. They'll host Cooper on Monday, then go on the road for games at St. Louis Park, St. Francis and Columbia Heights. All games start at 4:30 p.m.
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