CL's farewell tour of North Suburban tough at times

Robbinsdale Cooper 5, Chisago Lakes 0
Robbinsdale Cooper scored two runs in the top of the first inning and the proved to be all they needed as they shut out the Wildcats 5-0 last Wednesday, May 8 at Chisago Lakes. The Wildcats managed just four singles for the game. Wildcats pitchers Kellen Reed, Dylan Magnuson and Colton Mueller combined to strike out 15 batters, and allowed just seven hits, but walked nine.

St. Louis Park 2, Chisago Lakes 1 (9 innings)
Against St. Louis Park, Louis Kastenbauer turned in the best pitching performance so far this year for the Wildcats. He gave up just two runs in 8 2/3 innings, including the game winner in the bottom of the ninth as the Orioles beat the Wildcats 2-1 last Friday, May 10 at Dakota Park in St. Louis Park. Things started off well for the Wildcats. With no outs in the top of the first inning, Will Gillach, Matt Hasselquist and Mitch Berg each singled to load the bases against starting pitcher Kenneth Furuli. The Orioles yanked Furuli and brought in Ryan Froom. Kellen Reed singled to drive in Gillach. But Froom struck out the next three batters to hold the Wildcat lead at 1-0. In the bottom of the first, a hit batter and a single put runners on first and second with no outs. A groundout moved the runners up to second and third.

Kastenbauer intentionally walked Froom to load the bases. A run scored on a groundout to tie the game at 1-1. The next batter grounded out to third baseman Mitch Berg to end the inning. Neither team mustered any significant scoring threats through seven, and the game went into extra innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Kastenbauer walked a batter with one out. After an errant pickoff attempt allowed the runner to reach second, Kastenbauer intentionally walked the next batter. An infield single to third loaded the bases. Froom hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in the winning run. Kastenbauer threw 127 pitches, including 76 for strikes, and allowed nine hits, walked three and struck out five. For the Orioles, Froom threw 115 pitches, including 73 for strikes. He allowed just four hits, walked one and struck out 11. Matt Hasselquist and Kellen Reed had two hits apiece for the Wildcats.

Chisago Lakes 4, Irondale 1
Hunter Lindstrom pitched his best game so far this year as the Wildcats won for just the second time this year, beating Irondale 4-1 last Saturday, May 11 at Irondale. In five innings, Lindstrom allowed just one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out five. Kellen Reed, Joe Davis and Kyle Graeve each drove in a run for the Wildcats and Davis had two hits.

Totino Grace 11, Chisago Lakes 2
The Totino Grace Eagles outhit the Wildcats 16-8 for the game and scored five times in the third inning on their way to an 11-2 win over the Wildcats on Monday, May 13 at Chisago Lakes. Matt Hasselquist singled in the bottom of the third to drive in Jake Sandgren with the Wildcats’ first run and Miles Turk scored on a Wild pitch in the fourth for the Wildcats’ only other runs. Sandgren and Turk had two hits apiece for the Wildcats. Sandgren also stole two bases and Turk stole one. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 2-6 on the season. The Wildcats play four times in the next six days. They host Spring Lake Park tonight at Chisago Lakes High School at 7:30. Tomorrow, they play a 4:30 game at Fridley. They return home Saturday to take on Mahtomedi in a nonconference tilt at 7 p.m. And next Tuesday, May 21 they will take on local rival Forest Lake at Schumacher Field in Forest Lake at 7 p.m.