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Chisago Lakes 17, Colombia Heights 5

On Friday, May 8, Tyler Henderson did something that had only been done three times in Minnesota state high school history. It's something that Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, Kent Hrbek, Joe Mauer and Terry Steinbach didn't do. Henderson hit four home runs in the Wildcats' 17-5 win over Columbia Heights.

In the first inning, Quinn Collins walked and Joey Reed reached on an error, and then pulled off a double steal. On a 2-1 pitch, Henderson drilled a ball over the right-center field fence to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead. With one out and nobody on in the third inning, Henderson hammered the first pitch he saw - a high fastball - over the right field wall to make the score 5-2 Wildcats.

Henderson had the only hit in the Wildcats' seven run fifth inning. The other runners reached base on four walks, a hit batsman and an error. After the Wildcats already had one run in and runners on first and second, the Hylanders brought in a new pitcher. Henderson greeted the new hurler by smacking his first pitch, another high fastball, over the left field fence to drive in three runs.

In the sixth inning, Henderson rocketed a ball down the right field line that looked like a sure double. But the umpire ruled it foul, and Henderson grounded out later in the at bat. In the seventh, it looked like Cody Bergquist took some inspiration from Henderson. With one out and runners on first and second, Bergquist hit his first varsity home run to drive in three more runs. Collins singled and, one out later, Henderson again stepped to the plate. With the count 1-1, the pitcher hung a curveball over the inside corner. Henderson drove it over the fence in left center for his fourth home run of the game. "That one was fun to watch," said Henderson. "I knew it was gone when I hit it."

In addition to tying the state record for home runs, Henderson also tied the state record for total bases with 16. He also drove in nine of the Wildcats' 17 runs in the game. For good measure, Henderson made his first pitching appearance of the season in the seventh inning. And it seems appropriate that he struck out the side to complete an amazing day of baseball.

Henderson had only hit one home run this season before his four homer outburst against the Hylanders. And he had never hit more than one home run in a game previously in his life. He's also one of the top hitters in the state, batting .553. Talking to Henderson a couple of days later, he seemed to be in awe of his accomplishment. "The whole thing is surreal," he said. "It's awesome having guys calling me for interviews. I really am honored to be a part of something like this." And he still seems to be the same humble kid he always had been. "I just love coming to the ballpark," he said. "I look forward to getting back in the groove, hitting for average and coming up big when the team needs me."

Henderson was named the Metro Area Player of the Week by both KARE 11 and the Star Tribune.

Travis Ongstad, Collins, Budde and Henderson combined to limit the Hylanders to five runs on five hits. Willhite and Collins had two hits apiece for the Wildcats.

"Tyler's achievement is such an incredible rarity," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "How many baseball games have I watched in my life? Maybe 5,000? And I've never even seen anyone hit three home runs in a game. And Tyler didn't have any help from the wind. There was a crosswind blowing from third to first. It was a lot of fun to watch and fun for the rest of the players, too. I'm sure his parents and the rest of his family are very proud of him."

Chisago Lakes 6, St. Francis 2

The Wildcats scored five times in the third inning on their way to a 6-2 win over St. Francis in the first game of a doubleheader last Wednesday, May 6 at Chisago Lakes. Cody Bergquist led the Wildcats with three hits, and starting pitcher Joey Reed allowed just two earned runs in six innings despite giving up four hits, walking six and hitting three batters.

Reed pitched his way out of a huge jam in the third inning. He hit the first batter. The next batter flied to right. After the next batter walked, Reed picked the runner off second for the second out of the inning. Another hit batter and a walk loaded the bases. But Reed got the next batter to ground out to short to end the inning. The Wildcats responded with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the third. With one out, Quinn Collins reached on an error, Reed walked and Tyler Henderson singled to load the bases. Bergquist singled to drive in Collins. Warkel hit a ground ball to third. Reed scored before Henderson was tagged out. Brian Eichten then singled to drive in Bergquist with the third run off the inning. Ongstad hit a ground ball to short that went for an error and allowed Warkel to score. Eichten also scored, Giving the Wildcats a 5-0 lead after three.

St. Francis scored two runs in the fifth on three singles, a hit batter and a walk. Further damage was avoided as left fielder Jack Faith gunned down a runner trying to advance to third for the second out of the inning, and the third out came when a baserunner got caught in a rundown between second and third. The Wildcats scored the game's final run in the bottom of the fifth when Cody Bergquist singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Jake Warkel reached on an error by the second baseman.

Chisago Lakes 8, St. Francis 0

Left fielder Jack Faith broke out of a season-long slump with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Wildcats to an 8-0 shutout of St. Francis in the second game of the doubleheader. Jake Warkel pitched a complete game four hit shutout as the Wildcats swept the Fighting Saints.

Warkel led off the second inning with a double. Two outs later, Faith jumped on the first pitch he saw, driving it over the left field fence to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Two innings later, the Wildcats manufactured another run. Andy Willhite singled to lead off the inning. Derek Budde sacrificed Willhite to second. Willhite stole third. Faith worked the count full, then hit a fly ball to deep right field for a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-0.

In the top of the fifth, Brian Eichten doubled with one out. Warkel walked, and Eichten scored on Willhite's single. Budde singled to load the bases. Faith hit a ground ball to short, forcing out Willhite from third but scoring courtesy runner Brandon Dawson to stretch the Wildcat lead to five runs. The Wildcats piled on more runs in the top of the seventh. Dawson hit a one-out double, and four straight two-out singles - by Bergquist, Collins, Reed and Henderson - to score three runs.

The Wildcats had their hitting shoes on in this one as they piled up 16 hits, including two each by Bergquist, Collins, Reed and Henderson.

"Jack Faith is an excellent defensive outfielder," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "He's a nice kid who works his tail off even though his confidence hasn't been that great. All of a sudden he's gotten more aggressive and it's paying off for him. For me, the most fun part of sports is watching kids grow. It was wonderful to see him hit that homerun and drive in runs in his other two at-bats. And Cody Bergquist is looking good at shortstop right now. He gets to a lot of balls, is a sparkplug in the batting order and looks like he's having a lot of fun.

"We got a couple of nice conference wins against St. Francis," said Collins. "Joey Reed had to pitch his way out of a few jams in the first game, but we're used to that with him. Jake Warkel struggled a little bit in his first inning on the mound in the second game, but then he settled down and pitched great to get the shutout."

Chisago Lakes 2, St. Louis Park 0

Tyler Henderson drove in the game's first run, Brian Eichten hit a monstrous home run and Joey Reed and Quinn Collins combined for a four-hit shutout as the Wildcats beat St. Louis Park 2-0 on Monday, May 11 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats got on the board in the bottom of the first. Reed walked with two outs and stole second. Henderson grounded a single just to the left of second base. Reed beat the throw home to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The catcher threw to second as Henderson tried to advance on the throw home. Henderson beat the ball to the bag, but didn't slide. His momentum caused his foot to slip off the bag and he was tagged out for the third out of the inning.

Reed struck out the first batter in the fourth. He walked the next two, but struck out the last two to end the threat. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Eichten hit a 1-0 pitch deep to left field. The left fielder turned around, took one step and watched as the ball sailed way over his head and landed beyond the road to put the Wildcats up 2-0.

The first two batters singled in the top of the seventh. Collins replaced Reed. The next batter hit Collins' first pitch to deep center field, and it looked like the

game might be tied up. But center fielder Andy Willhite raced back and caught the ball over his left shoulder near the warning track, robbing the hitter of an extra base hit and saving one or two runs. A wild pitch allowed the runner on second to move to third, but the runner on first stayed put. Collins struck out the last two batters to finish off the Wildcats' 2-0 win.

Reed allowed three hits, struck out eight, walked five and hit a batter to earn the victory, and Collins picked up the save.

"We gave up four outs with dumb baserunning moves today," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "But, we got a win and I'll take that. Joey Reed seems to have his arm strength back. He had a nice curveball, his changeup is improving and he had a heavy fastball tonight. Even though he walked a few guys, a four-hit shutout is a pretty good game. Brian really hammered that ball to left. That was a nice rip. And Andy's catch was huge. In the last few years, how many doubles or triples hit to center field have died in a Willhite's glove, either Andy's or David's? And Jack Faith had a great at bat in the fifth inning, fouling off several pitches before singling up the middle. He's definitely looking better at the plate."

The Wildcats are riding a five game winning streak, and have improved their record to 10-5 overall and 8-4 in the North Suburban Conference. The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Robbinsdale Cooper Wednesday, May 13. Tomorrow, they'll take on Benilde-St. Margaret's at 4:30 p.m. in St. Louis Park. And next Wednesday, May 20 they'll return home to take on Cambridge-Isanti at home at 7:00 p.m.

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