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North Branch 8, Cambridge-Isanti 5

The North Branch baseball team ended the regular season with a big victory over section and local rival Cambridge-Isanti last week.

"This was a great game," Head Coach Steve Christensen opined. "From the little kids running out with the players for the national anthem, through a well-officiated game, and coming away with a win made it sweet. It was just a great atmosphere around the game."

The Vikings began the night's scoring with three runs in the top of the first inning. The top and middle of the order really set the tone with a bevy of hits that was capped off with Kyle Grote's run-scoring single in the first. The lineup afforded starter Matt Becklin a nice three-run lead before he ever took the mound.

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Bluejackets tallied one run of their own. However, North Branch tacked that run right back on in the top of the second inning.

Cambridge-Isanti tied it quickly with a three-run burst in the bottom of the second inning.

After a scoreless third inning, the Vikings blew up for four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Again, the heart of the order was the catalyst for the Viking run, and they made the Bluejackets pay for their errors.

Matt Lutgen, Drew Lundquist and Joe Johnson were at the center of the run that stretched the lead to 8-4.

That was the only support Becklin would need, as he shut down the Jackets for the rest of the game besides a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

There were a lot of offensive stars for the Vikings on the day, but none shone as bright as Lutgen, who went 4-for-5 in the three hole with two runs and an RBI. "He really hit the ball well," Christensen said. "He's hitting in the three spot and getting on base or moving runners up."

It helps Lutgen that there is a power hitter in the four spot protecting him. Lundquist went 2-for-4 with two runs. "Drew has been solid in the clean-up spot all season," Christensen noted.

Johnson also went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Grote drove in two runs while going 1-for-3.

Eric Berggren, Tyler Ball, Sean Graff and Dan Schoess also collected hits for the Vikings.

Becklin pitched a complete game, scattering eight hits and allowing five runs to the young Bluejackets. He struck out four and only walk two on the night.

The win left the Vikings at 11-8 on the regular season, including 8-6 in the North Suburban Conference. The Vikings began section play earlier this week on Tuesday after narrowly missing a bye in the first round. In Section 7AAA, the top four seeds get first-round byes, and North Branch earned the fifth seed. They played 12th-seeded Duluth Denfeld for the right to play fourth-seeded Chisago Lakes on Satruday, May 30.

The Vikings had to tough it out, but they beat Denfeld 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday night. For a full recap of the game, as well as their second round match up against Chisago Lakes, check out next week's issue of The Chisago County Press.

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