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Robbinsdale Cooper 7, Chisago Lakes 3

In the third inning Last Tuesday, April 20 at Robbinsdale Cooper, the Wildcat baseball team scored three runs on a walk and four straight hits. That's the good news. The bad news is that those were the only four hits Wildcat hits of the game. The Hawks pounded out ten hits and took advantage of five walks by Wildcat pitchers, winning 7-3 to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season.

The Hawks scored three runs in the top of the first inning, and the Wildcats tied it with three runs in the third. Joe LaBarre led off the inning with a walk. One out later, four straight singles by Cody Bergquist, Kyle Buchanan, Tyler Henderson and Joey Reed plated three runs to tie the game. But the Hawks came right back with three more runs against starter Joey Reed in the bottom of the third inning. Hawk pitching stifled the Wildcats for the rest of the game allowing just three more base runners - one walked and two were hit by a pitch - and two of those runners were erased on double plays.

Even though Reed gave up six runs on nine hits and two walks in three innings, Wildcat head coach Pat Collins said Reed pitched well. "Joey was throwing in the low to mid eighties," said Collins, "and they were able to catch up with his fastball. Cooper is just a great hitting team. We didn't lose the game through errors or making bad pitches. We got beat by a good team that pitched well, made some good defensive plays and hit the ball hard. You have to tip your cap to them. And we're certainly looking forward to playing them at home in three weeks."

Travis Ongstad pitched the last three innings of the game for the Wildcats, allowing just one run on one hit, a mammoth 400-foot home run.

Chisago Lakes 16, Columbia Heights 0 (5 innings)

Junior Travis Ongstad hit a grand slam to straightaway center field as the Wildcats trounced the Columbia Heights Hylanders 16-0 last Friday, April 23 at Chisago Lakes in a game shortened to five inning because of the ten-run rule. Ongstad was also the starting pitcher for the Wildcats, allowing just two hits in three innings of work to pick up the win. He also walked twice and singled.

Hitting stars abounded for the Wildcats in the rout. Senior Tyler Henderson singled, doubled, tripled and walked, scoring four runs and driving in two. Senior Joey Reed and junior Kyle Buchanan each went two-for-three with a triple; Reed drove in two runs and scored three, while Buchanan drove in one run and scored two. Junior Joe LaBarre walked three times, singled and had one RBI. Senior Cody Bergquist went two-for-three with a walk and three runs scored. Junior Tyler Rivard drove in three runs, two on a single and one when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. And senior Brian Eichten scored three runs and drove in three runs, including one on a suicide squeeze.

"Travis absolutely hit a rocket into the teeth of the wind," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins about Ongstad's grand slam. "It had to be blowing 25 miles an hour straight in from center field and I don't think the ball got more than 15 feet off the ground. We hit the heck out of the ball as a team. And Travis looked good shutting them out for three innings on the mound." The Wildcats (6-1 overall, 3-1 conference) have outscored their opponents 70-11 so far this year.

The Wildcats will be pretty busy over the next week. Tonight, they'll head up County Road 14 to take on archrival North Branch at 4:30 p.m. Saturday morning they will be in Mahtomedi to take on the Zephyrs at 11 a.m. The Wildcats will return home next Monday, May 3 to host Irondale at 4:30, then head to Fridley to play Totino-Grace on Wednesday, May 5 at 4:30.

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