---

The baseball team from Chisago Lakes really put the "Wild" in Wildcats this week. They lost a classic pitcher's duel by one run; played well for only a couple of innings but doubled up on their closest rival; and rallied from eight runs down in the seventh inning only to fall short because of a lack of clutch hitting by the middle of the lineup and some poor baserunning.

Fridley 1, Chisago Lakes 0

Joey Reed pitched one of the best games of his career, striking out 15 batters whole allowing just two hits. But Fridley pitcher Graig Weber pitched pretty well, too, and came out on top. He struck out eight, allowed just one hit and drove in the game's only run with a home run in the fifth inning as the Tigers beat the Wildcats 1-0 last Tuesday, April 27 at Fridley.

Weber did show some wildness in his complete game win. The lefty walked six and hit a batter. But he always seemed to find a way to pitch himself out of trouble. In the sixth, Tyler Henderson led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. After the next two batters struck out, Travis Ongstad walked. On the first pitch to the next batter, Ongstad stole second on a delayed steal. Henderson strayed a little too far off third on the play and a quick throw by the shortstop nailed him for the third out.

In the seventh, Steve Ramberg was hit by a pitch with two outs. The next batter, Cody Bergquist, worked the count to 3-1. The next pitch was about chin high and should have sent Bergquist to first. But the umpire apparently thought Bergquist was 6'3", because he called the pitch a strike. The next pitch was nearly in the same spot, and Bergquist had to swing at it. He popped out to the first baseman to end the game.

Reed's performance is even more amazing when you consider that he struck out the 15 batters in just six innings. He struck out the first six batters of the game and the last six. He didn't walk anyone and hit one batter. "Joey pitched as good a game as I've seen," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "They couldn't touch him. He dominated the hitters all afternoon. But the Fridley kid pitched an awesome game, too. This is one of those games we didn't lose because of mistakes. We just got beat by one of the top three lefties I've seen in the last ten years. You don't see many lefties to begin with and you rarely see one who can throw that hard and keep the ball out of the middle of the strike zone."



Chisago Lakes 16, North Branch 8

Between them, the two teams scored 24 runs on 23 hits, eight errors, 13 walks and two hit batters. The Wildcats got the better of it, scoring 12 runs in the last two innings to beat the Vikings 16-8 last Thursday, April 29 at North Branch.

Tyler Ball walked to lead off the top of the first for the Vikings and eventually came around to score on Thomas Kinsella's double. In the top of the second, the Wildcats tied it up when Brian Eichten walked, went to second on Travis Ongstad's single, stole third and scored on Dan Sargeant's groundout.

The Wildcats scored three runs in the third to take the lead. Cody Bergquist led off with a single and took second on an error by the left fielder. He scored one out later when Joey Reed reached on an error. Tyler Henderson and Ongstad walked to load the bases with two outs. Joe LaBarre came up with a big two-out hit, singling to drive in two runs to increase the Wildcat lead to 4-1.

Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Kinsella singled and Luke LeVasseur reached on an error. With one out, Andy Freel doubled to drive in two runs and cut the Wildcat lead to 4-3. In the fifth, Tanner Danks led off with a single. Two outs later, Kinsella and LeVasseur walked to load the bases. Christian Ehrnriter then matched LaBarre's clutch two-out hit, singling to drive in two runs and give the Vikings the lead at 5-4.

But the Wildcats exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth to make the score 12-5. They batted eleven, getting five hits and taking advantage of a walk, a hit batter and an error. Reed, Henderson and Ongstad all had run-scoring doubles, with Reed driving in two. Kyle Buchanan and Eichten each drove in a run, as well. The Vikings scored two in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Matt Lutgen and a groundout by Kinsella. The Wildcats answered with five more runs in the top of the seventh, with a bases-loaded walk by Reed, a sacrifice fly by Henderson and a single by Eichten driving in three of the runs.

"We need to stay away from the 'big inning'," North Branch Head Coach Steve Christensen lamented. "We've given up big hits and committed errors that have really plagued us lately."

The Vikings' Ball singled in Travis Giem in the bottom of the inning to make the final score Chisago Lakes 16, North Branch 8.

Bergquist pitched the last 2 1/3 innings for the Wildcats in relief of starter Ongstad to pick up the win. Ongstad struck out five, gave up five hits and walked five in 4 2/3 innings. "Travis struggled a little bit against the Vikings," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins, "but he came through for us and we got the win. The bats came alive when they had to. But if our goal is to get to state, we can't just play well here and there. We've got to play hard for all innings, all pitches and all outs."

"That was a tough one. We played so well into the 6th inning," Christensen said. "There were things that we didn't execute very well. Situationally, you have to be ready to play each play, no matter what position you play or where the ball is. We just have to learn from it, and move on. That's what we need to do. I don't think anybody feels good about the outcome of this game."



Mahtomedi 10, Chisago Lakes 9

A 20 mile per hour wind blowing out to left field, a missed strike call by an umpire and a seven-run rally by the Wildcats all added up to an interesting day at the ballpark. But the day was ultimately disappointing for the Wildcats as they lost 10-9 to the Mahtomedi Zephyrs last Saturday, May 1 at Mahtomedi.

The Wildcats scored right off the bat in this one. Cody Bergquist walked to lead off the top of the first, went to second on a Wild pitch and scored on Kyle Buchanan's bouncer up the middle. The Zephyrs answered with three runs over the first three innings, one on a long wind-aided home run to left, to take a 3-1lead. Starting pitcher Tyler Rivard helped his own cause with his first varsity home run in the top of the fourth, a solo blast. He made solid contact with a low fastball and drove a high line drive toward left. The ball may have gone out of the park on a day with no wind, but on this day it carried over the school building behind the left field fence, and the Wildcats had pulled within one.

The Zephyrs put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Rivard worked the count on the next batter to 2-2 and then threw a fastball over the heart of the plate a few inches below the letters that clearly looked like strike three. The Wildcats should have been out of the inning still down by just one. But the umpire called the pitch ball three. Rivard's next pitch sailed high and outside and the bases were loaded. The next three batters walked, singled and hit a wind-aided homer, as the Zephyrs scored five runs to take an 8-2 lead. They added two runs on another homer in the bottom of the sixth. Left fielder Jeff Sargeant ran hard after the ball and smacked face first into the chain link fence in left. He went down for a few seconds, but shook it off and stayed in the game. He appeared to be okay.

Since the Wildcat bats had been largely silent all day, no one expected what happened in the top of the seventh. Bergquist doubled to the wall in center to lead off the inning. Kyle Buchanan walked. Tyler Henderson hit a hard one-hopper to right field. The right fielder threw to first to try to get Henderson, but the ball got away from the first baseman. Bergquist scored, and the Wildcats had runners on second and third. Joey Reed and Brian Eichten each drove in a run with a single to right. Travis Ongstad reached on an error to plate Reed. The Wildcats had cut the lead to 10-6 and there was still nobody out.

Sargeant walked to load the bases. Rivard ripped a single off the pitcher's glove to drive in another run. Joe LaBarre reached on an error and Bergquist walked, each driving in a run and cutting the Mahtomedi lead to 10-9. Things looked pretty good for the Wildcats. They had the bases loaded, no outs, Uncle Mo on their side and the heart of the order coming to the plate.

But then it all fell apart. Buchanan popped a 3-2 pitched down the line into short right field and the second baseman caught it for out number one. Henderson, on a 1-1 pitch, hit a popup toward first base. The umpire called the infield fly rule, which means the batter is automatically out and the runners don't have to advance even if the ball is dropped. The first baseman dropped the ball. LaBarre took off for third and Rivard took a few steps toward home. The Zephyrs threw in behind Rivard as he dove back toward third, tagged him out and ended the game. The incredible rally had fizzled and the Wildcats were left with a 10-9 loss.

"That seventh inning was something else," said Wildcat head coach Pat Collins. "It's too bad our rally fell short, but we really didn't deserve to win that one. You can't get away with playing just one good inning out of seven and expect to win the game. We certainly need to be a lot more focused on playing the right way for seven innings when we take on third-ranked Irondale on Monday."

---