Wildcats KO'd by Forest Lake

Forest Lake 3, Chisago Lakes 1 In the quarterfinals of the Section 7AAA playoffs, the Wildcat baseball team lost to a familiar foe. The Forest Lake Rangers scored two unearned runs on their way to a 3-1 win over the Wildcats, ending the Wildcats’ season. The game was played last Thursday, May 31 at Forest Lake. The Rangers lost in the section championship game 7-3 to Grand Rapids this past Tuesday, June 5, sending Grand Rapids to the state tournament. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, the Wildcats got a two-out rally going. With runners on first and second, Brandon Gorski singled down the left field line to drive in a run and put runners on first and third. But the next batter struck out looking at three straight pitches, ending the Wildcats’ only legitimate scoring threat for the day.

The Wildcats got behind early after some poor infield defense in the first inning. With the bases loaded and one out, the Forest Lake batter hit a line drive to the right of second base. Second baseman Miles Turk snagged the liner and flipped the ball to shortstop Jake Sandgren to double off the runner. But Sandgren dropped the ball and all hands were safe. The next batter hit a grounder to Turk that should have ended the inning, but Turk misplayed it for an error, all hands were safe and the Rangers led 1-0. A sacrifice fly in the fourth put the Rangers back on top at 2-1. A bases-loaded walk in the sixth gave the Rangers in insurance run and they shut the Wildcats down in the seventh to take the win. Kellen Reed pitched a complete game for the Wildcats, allowing just one earned run. Wildcat head coach Pat Collins said, “Our lack of aggressiveness at the plate, something that has been hurting us all year, hurt us again in this game.

We take too many good pitches early in the count. One player I have been impressed with lately is Brandon Gorski. Brandon started off slow this year. But he’s been hammering the ball lately and has thrown out baserunners from the outfield in the last two games. He hit the hardest ball of the game against Forest Lake. Unfortunately, it was right back at the pitcher, who somehow caught it for an out. It’s nice to see a guy like Brandon make adjustments and have some success.” Collins allowed himself a peek forward to next year. He said, “We’ve got our top three pitchers, Hunter Lindstrom, Dylan Magnuson and Kellen Reed, coming back. Out two catchers, Joe Davis and Matt Hasselquist, will also be back. And the first four batters in our lineup will return, too.

We only lose four seniors and we’ve got some talented younger kids who will be pushing for spots on the varsity next year. We just need to fine tune some things so we can win more close game. With the new bats we had to use this year, the games are a lot closer than they used to be.”