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Cambridge-Isanti 5, Chisago Lakes 4

The Wildcat baseball team came within two feet of tying Cambridge-Isanti in the seventh inning last Wednesday night, but Cambridge hung on for a 5-4 win. Trailing 5-2 with two runners on and two outs, Jeff Sargeant stepped to the plate. On a 1-1 pitch, he drilled a ball to deep right field that looked like it had a chance to go out. But the ball hit two feet below the top of the fence. Base runners Joey Reed and Travis Ongstad scored, and Sargeant ended up on second with a double. The next batter grounded out to end the game.

Cody Bergquist led off the game with a 390 foot blast to straightaway center, but it's 400 feet to center at Cambridge so it ended up being just an impressive-looking out. With two outs in the first, Tyler Henderson singled and Joey Reed walked. Courtesy runner Danny Kimlinger scored on Bryan Eichten's single, and the Wildcats led 1-0.

The Wildcats increased their lead to 2-0 in the fourth. Bergquist reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and scored on Kyle Buchanan's single. The Bluejackets got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an error, a walk and another error to cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1.

Control issues got the better of the Wildcat pitching staff in the bottom of the fifth inning. A single, a triple and another single led to two runs for Cambridge. Three walks in a row pushed across the third run of the inning. The next batter was hit with a 1-0 pitch to drive in the fourth run off the inning. The next batter ran the count to 3-2 but flew out to center. The bleeding had stopped, but the Wildcats now trailed 5-2, setting the stage for what almost turned out to be one of the most exciting comebacks in Wildcat history.

Wildcat head coach Pat Collins was not pleased with all aspects of the Wildcats' performance. He said "It's a simple recipe for failure. When you walk six and commit four errors, you don't deserve to win the game. And we didn't win."



Forest Lake 4, Chisago Lakes 2

Forest Lake scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and later added an insurance run beating the Wildcats 4-2 last Thursday evening at Chisago Lakes. It was the Wildcats' final game of the regular season and dropped their overall record to 10-10. They finished 7-7 in the North Suburban Conference, good for sixth place.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard right away in the first inning. Cody Bergquist was hit by a pitch to lead off the game. He went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Kyle Buchanan's groundout. Tyler Henderson hit a line drive to right field. The right fielder made a nice dive for the ball, but only trapped it. Bergquist scored to make it 1-0.

The Wildcats appeared poised to break the game wide open. In the second inning with a two-out rally, Jeff Sargeant doubled to left. Tyler Rivard walked and Bergquist beat out an infield hit to load the bases. On the ninth pitch of his at bat, Buchanan ripped a single up the middle that looked like it would drive in two runs and leave runners at first and third with the heart of the order coming up. Sargeant scored, but Bergquist was gunned down at third on a perfect throw from the center fielder. Rivard had not yet crossed the plate when Bergquist was tagged out, keeping the Wildcat lead at two runs.

The Rangers tied it up in the top of the third. A single and a double put runners on second and third with no outs. After a strikeout, the Wildcats intentionally walked the next batter to set up a potential double play. But the Wildcats never got the chance to put that strategy to the test as a wild pitch allowed one run to score and the other two runners to move up. A groundout to short pushed across another run, and the score was now 2-2.

The Rangers went ahead in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. The first two batters of the inning reached on errors. After a sacrifice bunt, the next batter grounded to short to score a run and put the Rangers up 4-2. The Rangers scored again in the fifth, on a walk, a stolen base and a single. The Wildcats didn't really get anything going offensively after that, managing just two base runners in the last three innings as they went down to defeat.

"Both teams played well in this one," said Wildcat head coach pat Collins. "They just got a couple more big hits than we did."

SECTION PREVIEW

The seventh-seeded Wildcats were scheduled to face the tenth-seeded Vikings on June 2 in the opening round of the Section 7AAA tournament. If the Wildcats won yesterday, they will likely face second-seeded Duluth East in the quarterfinals on June 4 at 4:30 at Duluth. Their opponent could be different because of a reseeding process that takes place after the first round. If the Wildcats win the quarterfinal game, they will advance to the section's Final Four double-elimination tournament, which begins Tuesday, June 8 at 4 p.m. Chisago Lakes and Forest Lake will host the tournament, with game sites to be determined later. Please check mshsl.org for matchups, times and locations of playoff games.

Wildcat Joey Reed returned to the lineup from an elbow injury recently. The Wildcats hope he is ready to pitch by this Friday. If Reed is able to throw, it makes the Wildcats a more formidable foe in the section playoffs and gives them a legitimate shot at the state tournament.

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