May 13, 2010 at 9:24 a.m.
Tough draw equals trouble for NB
Tough draw equals trouble for NB
Fridley 8, North Branch 4
First up on the docket was an away game against the Fridley Tigers.
The home team struck first as Fridley scored in the bottom of the second inning to take a quick lead.
North Branch responded, however, in the top of the fourth inning with their first two runs of the game. They were aided by one of Fridley's three errors to score their first run and Tyler Zondlo got a sacrifice fly to drive in a another run.
It took Fridley an inning, but they answered the bell with three of their own runs in the fifth inning off of starter Thomas Kinsella
Kinsella was lifted after that inning, but Tyler Ball had a rough sixth inning as the Tigers put four more runs across the plate to take an 8-2 lead over North Branch heading into the last inning.
In their last gasp, the Vikings got three straight two out singles by Tanner Danks, Kinsella and Matt Lutgen, as well as a walk from Tim Katka, but they weren't able to keep the rally going and they fell short at 8-4.
"Give the boys some credit," Head Coach Steve Christensen said. "They never quit. Given that situation again, they know they can score runs in bunches. We had some opportunities to score early, but we only came away with two runs."
Lutgen went two-for-three with one run and one RBI and Danks, Kinsella, Zondlo, Ball and Katka scattered the other four North Branch hits.
Kinsella got the start, and the loss, going four and two-thirds innings and giving up four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Ball came on in relief and gave up four runs on five hits in one and one-third innings.
Irondale 4, North Branch 2
The Vikings got no break, taking on the top team in the North Suburban Conference in Irondale.
It looked like it might be a quick day of work for the Knights as they tacked on two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but North Branch starter Tyler Ball locked them down quickly.
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