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Chisago Lakes 9, Benilde-St. Margaret's 5

Two-run singles by Tyler Henderson and Andy Willhite propelled the Wildcat baseball team to a 9-5 season-opening win over highly touted conference for Benilde-St. Margaret's last Tuesday, April 7 at Chisago Lakes.

The Red Knights scored three runs, two unearned, to take the lead in the top of the third. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Willhite reached on an error, Quinn Collins singled and Joey Reed walked to load the bases. Jake Warkel was hit by a pitch to drive in the first Wildcat run. Henderson then ripped a double into left center to drive in two runs. Warkel scored on Brian Eichten's groundout to put the Wildcats in front 4-3. In the fourth, Willhite singled with one out and Collins reached on an error. Warkel singled with two outs to drive in Willhite for a 5-3 Wildcat lead.

In the fifth, Eichten reached on an error to lead off the inning. With one out, Travis Ongstad singled and Alex Carlson walked to load the bases. Willhite then worked the count full and fouled off a couple of pitches. On the eighth pitch of his at-bat, he drilled a single down the left field line drive in two. On the next pitch, Carlson took off from third and Quinn Collins got down a suicide squeeze, scoring Carlson to stretch the Wildcat lead to 8-5. Henderson scored on an error in the sixth and the Red Knights added two runs in the seventh to make the final score Chisago Lakes 9, Benilde 5.

Joey Reed started and allowed one earned run on four hits in six innings, striking out seven, to pick up the win. He finished strong, striking out the side in the sixth inning. Quinn Collins pitched the seventh, striking out one.

Wildcat head coach Pat Collins said "This game was won in three at bats. Willhite had an eight pitch at-bat in the first inning, Warkel had a ten pitch at bat while walking in the second inning and Willhite whacked the ninth pitch of his at bat in the sixth inning for a two-run single. Long at bats like that benefit the team by wearing down the pitcher, and it worked to our advantage today."

Collins continued, "We're kind of unsure about what we have this early in the season, so this was a good start for us. With such a short season, just 20 games, it's important to get off to a good start. We're 24-5 in the conference the last three seasons, so each class knows they have a tradition to uphold. Joey Reed pitched well for us today. "



St. Louis Park 7, Chisago Lakes 4

St. Lois Park's two-out, three-run triple in the bottom of the fourth broke a 4-4 tie and sent the Wildcats down to a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the Orioles last Thursday, April 9 at St. Louis Park.

The Wildcats got on the board in the top of the first. A walk to Andy Willhite, force out by Quinn Collins, single by Reed and walk to Tyler Henderson loaded the bases with one out. Brian Eichten then drilled a 1-0 pitch off the outfield wall for a double. Collins and Reed scored, but courtesy runner Alex Carlson was thrown out at home on the play and the Wildcats led 2-0. St. Louis Park answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.

The Wildcats trailed 4-2 going into the top of the fourth. Eichten singled and Travis Ongstad walked. Cody Bergquist moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. A couple of throwing errors later, both runs had scored and the game was tied 4-4. But the lead was short-lived as the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The next batter hit a line drive down the right field line. Wildcat right fielder Eichten raced over and dove for the ball, but it ticked off the end of his glove and three runs scored to make it 7-4. Eichten provided a little more excitement for the Wildcats in the sixth when he drilled another ball off the top of the fence for a double, but this time no one was on base, and the Wildcats ended up with their first loss of the young season.

"We got beat in this one, but we didn't do anything bad that cost us the game," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "We played well and hit the ball hard, but hit it right at 'em. St. Louis Park has a good, well-coached team and they got one big timely hit in the fourth. Tyler Henderson hit the heck out of the ball and Brian Eichten nearly had two home runs. And in relief, Quinn Collins made their hitters look silly with his assortment of junk pitches. He's got that moxie, that 'in-charge' attitude when he's out there on the mound." Collins faced seven batters in his 2 1/3 innings of relief. Two of them singled, but one of those runners was caught stealing and Collins picked off the other one.

The Wildcats (1-1 overall and conference) have a busy week ahead, with five games in eight days. They were scheduled to host Robbinsdale Cooper Tuesday, April 14. Tomorrow they'll head to Princeton to take on the Tigers at 4:30 p.m. This Saturday, April 18 the Wildcats will play two games at Chisago Lakes. They'll host Mahtomedi at 1 p.m. and take on Duluth Central at 4:30 p.m. The Fridley Tigers will visit next Tuesday, April 21 for a 4:30 p.m. contest.

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