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North Branch 10, Chisago Lakes 6

The Vikings and Wildcats were cruising along in a tight game at North Branch High School last Tuesday, April 12, tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, when things got a little crazy. The Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. The Wildcats came back with four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. But the Vikings took the lead back, and then some, with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Vikings held the Wildcats scoreless in the top of the seventh and came away with their first win of the season by a score of 10-6.

Trailing 2-1 after four innings, the Wildcats went to work with two outs in the top of the fifth. Kyle Buchanan singled and stole second. Joe Davis walked. On an 0-2 count, Joe LaBarre singled through the hole on the left side of the infield, scoring Buchanan to tie the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, a North Branch batter led off with a hard single through the right side. The next North Branch batter laid down a nice sacrifice bunt, and a high throw allowed the batter to reach base, as well. The runners advanced to second and third on yet another sacrifice. The next batter hit a fly ball to deep left center field. The Wildcats dropped it for an error. The Viking runners had held up, thinking the ball would be caught. The Viking runner scored from third. It looked like the Wildcats had a chance to nail the runner from second at the plate, but they hesitated on the relay throw and the runner scored easily. The Vikings added another run later in the inning to make the score 5-2.

With two outs and the bases empty in the top of the sixth, Wildcat Pat Cavanaugh was hit by a pitch and Danny Kimlinger reached on an error. Hunter Lindstrom ripped a double to the wall in left center, scoring two runs and taking third on the throw home. Buchanan singled sharply through the left side to score Lindstrom and tie the game at 5-5. The Vikings changed pitchers. Buchanan stole second. Davis was hit by a pitch. Joe LaBarre again came up with a big hit, lining a ball straight over the shortstop's head into deep left, Buchanan scored with the go-ahead run and sendt Davis to third. On a double steal attempt, LaBarre took off early from first. He ended up stealing second, but Davis held at third. Dylan Magnuson grounded to third to end the inning, with the Wildcats up 6-5.

With one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the inning, Viking Tim Katka doubled to deep left center. Tyler Zondlo reached on an infield single. Cole Mattson hit a fly ball into short left center and placed it perfectly. The ball dropped between three hard-charging fielders for a single, scoring Katka to tie the game at 6-6 and sending Zondlo to second. Travis Anderson then ripped a ball over the right fielder's head for a double to plate two more and give the Vikings an 8-6 lead. The next batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Christina Ehrnriter hit a ground ball to first. LaBarre threw home and catcher Davis made a nice scoop for the force, keeping the Viking lead at two. Tanner Danks hit a routine ground ball that looked like it would end the inning, but a bad throw allowed a run to score and runners to advance to second and third. Thomas Kinsella was intentionally walked to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed another run to score. Andy Freel grounded to short to end the inning and the Vikings led 10-6.

"We kept battling back and forth," Head Coach Steve Christensen said. "Nobody wanted to give up on this game. After we were down, the boys were still determined to pull out a win."

With other pitchers injured and suspended, Buchanan started his second game in a row for the Wildcats. "What's nice about Buck," said Wildcat assistant coach Jay Brown, "is that he throws his changeup for a strike and keeps hitters off balance with a nice little curve ball. If he keeps his fastball down, he can be effective. I like crafty pitchers. He has good control too, only walking one batter in each of his first two starts.

"But we had to leave him in there a little too long today, and the Vikings took advantage of it the third or fourth time through the lineup. Still, if the defense had made a couple of plays behind him, things might have been a little different today. By the time kids get to high school baseball, they've got to make routing plays. Hats off to the Vikings for coming up with some big hits late in the game," said Brown.

LaBarre had the first four-hit game of his career for the Wildcats. Buchanan had three hits and Kimlinger had two.

Christensen, although pleased that his defense is improving, knew it still wasn't where it needed to be. "Thomas pitched very well. Unfortunately, we couldn't save hi the lead and give him the win," Christensen explained. "We shored up our defense compared to our last game, but we need to get better and so far we have.

Other results for North Branch and Chisago Lakes:

North Branch 4, Spring Lake Park 2

Although the Vikings offense cooled down after scoring 20 runs in their first two games, their pitchers guided them to their second straight North Suburban Conference victory late last week.

Spring Lake Park was the first on the board, as they scored in the top of the second inning to go up 1-0.  They stretched their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, but North Branch answered right back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, North Branch went to work when Christian Ehrnriter hit a double with Brett Klun on the basepaths. Klun came all the way around to score and tie the game at two. "There's your senior coming through," Head Coach Steve Christensen said. "Experience in those situations just help us get better."

But, North Branch wasn't done. Tanner Danks scorched a single to the outfield, which scored Ehrnriter, giving North Branch the lead. The Vikings' added one more run before the inning was out, and they clung to a 4-2 lead.

After trading some uneventful scoreless innings, things got dicey for North Branch in the top of the seventh inning. After Kevin Johnson, who had started the game, got the first two outs easily, the road to one more out and a win got bumpy. An infield error, a passed ball, a walk and a stolen base put runners at second and third with the clean up hitters stepping to the plate.

Christensen ordered the big bomber to be intentionally walked, loading the bases and putting a force at every bag.

The skipper then pulled Johnson, who was one out away from the complete game victory for Tyler Knobbe. The moves paid instant dividends as Knobbe struck out the next Spring Lake Park hitter to end the game and the Panthers' rally.

"It's a risky move to load the bases, but having a force out at any base made it eaasier to defend," Christensen said. "Tyler didn't need the ground ball, though, as he got the strikeout. I'm sure it was a fun and nerve-wracking experience for him."

Knobbe's one out save protected Johnson's first career varsity win. "Kevin pitched extremely well for his first outing," Christensen noted. "You can't be more than excited for him. He threw strikes, and except for one blip, our defense made the plays we needed them to make."

Johnson went six and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs -- only one earned -- on six hits and four walks.

After belting out 25 hits and scoring 20 runs in the first two games, Christensen said he was pleased with the small ball against Spring Lake Park. "I was happy to see our boys take advantage of passed balls and pitches in the dirt," he said. "We got on base via walk, hit and hit-by-pitch, and we still managed to move into scoring position any way we could."

Ehrnriter was the star offensively, going two-for-four with one run and one RBI. Travis Anderson, Klun and Danks all had one hit on the day.

St. Louis Park 9, Chisago Lakes 0

The Wildcats trailed 2-0 after the top of the fifth last week at St. Louis Park. But the Orioles broke open the close game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then tacked on four more in the sixth to beat the Wildcats 9-0 Thursday, April 14 at Dakota Park.

The Orioles made the most of their opportunities. They had just ten base runners in the game - five hits, four walks and a hit batter - but left only one runner on base for the game. Three of the hits were doubles, helping to push some runs across. The Wildcats had five hits, including a double by Travis Ongstad, but couldn't make a dent in the scoreboard.

The Wildcats play St. Francis next week on Tuesday, April 26 at 4:30 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast by WLKX 95.9 The Spirit

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