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Spring Lake Park 7, North Branch 4

In their first rematch of the year, North Branch couldn't quite produce the result they did the first time.

The Vikings had downed the Panthers in their earlier meeting, but a steady stream of hits and runs resulted in a loss last week for North Branch.

Spring Lake Park scored in every inning that they batted, starting with two in the first inning, and one run in each of the next five innings.

North Branch just couldn't keep up with the onslaught that long. They score one in the second inning on a double by Thomas Kinsella. The hit plated Sean Graff.

In the third inning, North Branch tied the score at three on a two-run double by Brett Klun. That was the closest things would be the rest of the day as the Panthers kept getting hits off of starter Tyler Ball.

They added one in the bottom of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

North Branch got one more run in the top of the seventh inning to draw within three runs, but the comeback fell short and Spring Lake Park avenged their loss from earlier this season.

Ball started the game, going five innings and giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks. Tim Katka pitched the last inning, giving up one run on one hit and two walks.

Tyler Zondlo went two-for-three with one run, Klun went one-for-three with two RBIs and a walk and Graff went one-for-four with two runs on the day.

Totino Grace 15, North Branch 4

After losing by only one run to the Eagles earlier this year, North Branch took a giant step back in their rematch with Totino Grace.

The Eagles took the early 1-0 lead in the second inning, but North Branch put that lead to rest quickly by scoring three of their own runs in the bottom of the second inning.

The big hit was a two-run double by Tanner Danks.

After Totino Grace cut the lead to one with a run of their own in the top of the third, North Branch put the lead back to two when Klun got an RBI in his second straight game to make it a 4-2 contest.

That's when things got ugly for North Branch. In th top of the fourth inning, Totino Grace exploded for seven runs off of reliever Matt Lutgen. The Eagles went from a two-run deficit to a five-run cushion, and they weren't done.

After the North Branch bats went down quietly in the bottom of the fourth, Totino-Grace batted around the order again when they scored six more runs off of Lutgen and Ryan Souther.

It turned the contest from a possible comeback scenario like the last Totino Grace came to a full-fledged blowout as the Eagles stretched their lead to 11 runs.

North Branch needed to gather at least two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to avoid being 10-runned by the mercy rule, but they went down with no runs and were sent to the showers early.

In the game, Danks was two-for-three with two RBIs and Katka was two-for-three with one run. Kinsella and Ball were the only other Vikings to get a hit off of the Eagle hurler.

Kinsella went two innings in the start, giving up a run on three hits, Lutgen, however, got the loss, going two and one-third innings and giving up 11 runs on five hits, three walks and three hit batsmen.

On the season, the Vikings moved to 4-11 and 3-9 in the conference. Although their home record isn't stellar, their road record is really what's bringing them down as they have gone 0-5 when away from the friendly confines of North Branch.

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