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North Branch 5, Chisago Lakes 3

Matt Lutgen sparked two two-run rallies and later drove in the Vikings' insurance run as they beat the Wildcats 5-3 last Thursday, April 23 in a North Suburban Conference baseball match up at Chisago Lakes. The Vikings took advantage of three Wildcat errors to score three unearned runs in the win.

The Vikings got on the board with some timely hitting in the top of the third. Number nine hitter Lutgen singled with two outs and Sean Graff reached on an error. The inning should have been over and the Wildcats would've gotten out of the jam unscathed, but that the Vikings made the 'Cats pay for the costly error. Dan Schoess and Joe Johnson followed with run-scoring singles to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats got one back in the bottom of the inning. Andy Willhite walked, stole second, went to third on a single by Quinn Collins and scored on Joey Reed's single.

The Vikings scored two more runs in the top of the fifth, again getting some help from the Wildcat defense. Lutgen started things off for the Vikings, walking with one out. He went all the way to third on an errant pickoff attempt that rolled into the deepest possible corner in the Chisago Lakes field and scored on Graff's bloop single. Schoess reached on another Wildcat error. Johnson, who entered the game atop the metro batting average leaderboard, struck out, but the Vikings got another big hit as Drew Lundquist singled with two outs drove in Graff to put the Vikings up 4-1. "Sean Graff had another good day atop the lineup," Viking Head Coach Steve Christensen said. "He's been getting on base, anyway he can, and the rest of the lineup has been driving runners home."

The Wildcats wouldn't go down quietly, however, as they answered back with two of their own runs in the bottom of the inning to trim the lead back down to one run. Jack Faith led off with a walk. Two outs later Reed ripped a double to score Faith. Tyler Henderson's single scored Reed to cut the Viking lead to 4-3.

The Vikings added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Eric Berggren was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Kyle Grote sacrificed Berggren to second. Erik Chouinard hit a fly ball to center for the second out. But Lutgen again came up big, dropping a bloop single just over the head of Wildcat first baseman Jake Warkel to drive in Berggren. According to Christensen, Lutgen also did very well behind the plate. "He blocked the ball very well and managed the pitcher well."

Grote shut out the Wildcats for the final two innings, including a one-two-three seventh, to seal the win for the Vikings. Grote allowed seven hits and struck out five in pitching a complete game. "Kyle pitched a great game," Christensen said. "He mixed up his pitches and let the defense make plays. The defense did an excellent job today, and the boys made key plays when they needed to be made."

Wildcat starter Reed allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings. Quinn Collins pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the Wildcats, allowing one run on one hit.

On offense, Graff and Lutgen were the stars of the game for the Vikings. Graff went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Lutgen went 2-for-2 with two runs, a walk and an RBI. Schoess, Johnson and Lundquist all collected one RBI on one hit.

"North Branch executed and we didn't," said Wildcat assistant coach Jay Brown. "They got a bunt down when they needed to, made some nice defensive plays and put the ball in play with runners on base. Good things happen when you put the ball in play. We didn't get a bunt down when we need to in this one and we struck out five times, all looking. We gave away some at bats when we had chances to score. And we kept the third inning alive with an error, allowing them to get two runs. Joey pitched well enough to win, but he didn't pitch great. And our staff hit three batters, which didn't help."

Although it was an away game, Christensen was appreciative of the fans that did come out and support both high school squads. "It was a very fun atmosphere at the ball park," he said. "A lot of fans turned out to support the players."

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