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Chisago Lakes 2, Cambridge-Isanti 0

The Wildcats won a strange game over Cambridge-Isanti, scoring two unearned runs in the first inning on their way to a 2-0 win at Chisago Lakes last Wednesday, May 20.

Cody Bergquist led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle. Bergquist took off on a hit and run. Quinn Collins hit a ground ball to short. He was thrown out a first, but Bergquist advanced to second. Bergquist went to third on a wild pitch, and Joey Reed walked. Reed took off a little early on an attempted steal of second, but the pitcher overthrew the first baseman. Bergquist scored and Reed went all the way to third as the first baseman went down the right field line to retrieve the ball. He threw the ball back toward the pitcher. Unbelievably, the ball sailed over the pitcher's head, and Reed trotted in from third with the second run.

The Bluejackets threatened to score in the top of the third. The first batter ripped a line drive off pitcher Reed's foot and was safe at first with a single. Reed seemed to be in pain. The trainer came out to check Reed's foot, and he stayed in the game. The next batter hit a ball up the middle that looked like a double play ball. But the ball took a bad hop and bounced off shortstop Bergquist for a single. Reed got out of the inning with a strikeout, a popup and another strikeout.

The Bluejackets threatened to score again in the top of the seventh, but some fundamental mistakes squelched their scoring opportunities. A walk and a single put runners on first and second with no outs. The next batter, showing bunt, took the first pitch right down the middle for a strike. The next pitch was high and outside, but the batter bunted that one. He popped it right to pitcher Joey Reed, who whirled and threw to second to complete the double play. So, instead of having runners on second and third with one out, Cambridge had a runner on first with two outs.

Even though they needed two runs, the Cambridge runner attempted a steal on the next pitch. He barely beat the throw to second. The batter then hit a hard, one hop single to left. In another move that defies explanation, the runner from second tried to score. Left fielder Jack Faith fired a perfect strike home, and Henderson easily tagged out the runner to end the game.

"Joey Reed pitched well in this game, but not great," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "He shut out a decent team today, but he's going to need better command of the strike zone to beat the better teams in the playoffs."

Forest Lake 8, Chisago Lakes 1

The Rangers had four scoring rallies in the game and the Wildcats managed just two hits as the Rangers beat the Wildcats 8-1 last Thursday evening, May 21 at Forest Lake. The Wildcats avoided a shutout when Jake Warkel's sacrifice fly scored Bryan Eichten in the sixth inning. Quinn Collins had two hits for the Wildcats and Tyler Henderson doubled in the second inning for the Wildcats' only extra-base hit.

The Wildcats' best chance to make a game of it came when they trailed 2-0 going into the top of the fourth inning. Quinn Collins singled to lead off the inning and Joey Reed reach on an error to put runners on first and second with no outs. Tyler Henderson grounded to third, moving up both runners. Bryan Eichten walked to load the bases. Andy Willhite stepped up to the plate and ripped a line drive. Unfortunately, it was hit right at the shortstop for the second out. The next batter grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

The loss dropped the Wildcats to 12-7 on the season. They finished in third place in the North Suburban Conference with a record of 9-5.

"Forest Lake is a very good team," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "They hit the ball well and their center fielder made a couple of fantastic catches that helped to keep us off the scoreboard. We didn't get a lot of breaks, especially the line drive to the shortstop with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth. Today, the better team won."

SECTION PREVIEW

The Wildcats received the fourth seed in the Section 7AAA playoffs, which gave them a bye in the first round. The Wildcats' first section playoff game will be this Saturday, May 30 at St. Francis against the winner of the Tuesday, May 26 first round game between fifth-seeded North Branch and telfth-seeded Duluth Denfeld. The game will be played at St. Francis or Princeton at 10:00 a.m. Win or lose, the Wildcats will play again at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, again at St. Francis or Princeton. If the Wildcats win at least one of their games on Saturday, they'll play again on June 2 and, possibly, June 4, with opponents and sites yet to be determined. The Wildcats' biggest obstacle in the section tournament will be top-seeded Forest Lake.

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