---

Region 1C Tournament

In their second game of the day on Saturday, the Bulldogs beat the Rum River Bandits 12-2.  The win gave the Bulldogs their first state tournament appearance since re-starting the team in 2014, and the first state tournament appearance for the Bulldog franchise since 2006.  The Bulldogs will open the tournament this Saturday, August 19 against the Veseli Warriors at 11 a.m. at Saints Field, 850 2nd St. N., Dassel, Minn.  The game will also be streamed on NSPN.tv.  Go to NSPN.tv/townball to subscribe to watch the game. The tournament is single-elimination and continues through Labor Day weekend.  If the Bulldogs win their first game, they will play the Fergus Falls Hurricanes on Saturday, August 26 at 7 p.m, with the site yet to be determined.

Hinckley 13, Chisago Lakes 4

In their first opportunity to punch their ticket to the state tournament, the Bulldogs fell to the Hinckley Knights 13-4 on Saturday afternoon at Solheim Field in Princeton.  The loss dropped the Bulldogs into an elimination bracket showdown against the Rum River Bandits later that evening.

Bulldog starter Bailey Kasprowicz, who excelled for the Bulldogs for most of the season, gave up six runs in just 2/3 of an inning.  Hunter Lindstrom relieved Kasprowicz and gave up four runs in 6 1/3 innings

The Bulldogs led briefly, taking a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Alex Wilkey in the top of the first.  And while two errors in the bottom of the first didn’t help matters, the Knights pounded the ball, picking up four hits, including a two-run homer by Max Sickler.  Lindstrom hit the first batter he faced to load the bases, but got a fly out to left to end the inning.

Tyler Stilp nearly homered twice in the game for the Bulldogs.  In the third, he lined a ball to left that banged off the wall a couple of feet short of the top, moving Adam Brown to third.  Brown later scored on a passed ball.  Stilp tried to score on a fly ball to medium deep left field but was easily thrown out at the plate to end the inning.  In the fifth, Stilp hit a high fly ball to left that kept carrying and hit the top edge of the wall, bouncing straight to the left fielder, whose strong throw held Stilp to a single on the play.

In the sixth, Jeremy Knutson showed off his elite pinch-hitting skills.  He came in to pinch hit for Kasprowicz, lined the first pitch he saw to left for a single, and came out of the game as the speedier Kasprowicz re-entered.

In the seventh, Stilp worked a walk on a 3-2 count with two outs.  Dusty Rhodes, who has struggled at the plate this season, stepped up and launched a ball to deep left.  The only question was whether it would stay fair.  The curving blast hit high off the trees overhanging the fence about ten feet inside the foul line for his first home run of the season and cut the Hinckley lead to 8-4.  But the Knights added two runs in the bottom of the seventh and three more off two home runs in the bottom of the eighth for their final margin of victory.

Brown and Stilp continued their sustained success at the plate.  The speedy Brown went two for five and scored two of the Bulldogs’ runs.  Stilp went three for three with a walk and two near-homers.

Chisago Lakes 12, Rum River 2 (7 innings)

Noah Couwenhoven gave up two runs in six innings and drove in four runs to lead the Bulldogs to a 12-2 win over the Rum River Bandits, earning the Bulldogs a trip to the state tournament.  The game was shortened to seven innings because of the ten-run rule.  Couwenhoven allowed two runs – one earned – walked one and struck out five.  Fireballing closer Tyler Stilp pitched the seventh, allowing a hit but striking out two.  Stilp and Adam Brown, who anchor the top of the Bulldog lineup, had three hits apiece in the win.  The game was played late Saturday evening, August 12.

Rum River lost their opening game in the tournament, and then proceeded to win four games to get to the game against the Bulldogs.  Unfortunately for the Bandits, the game was their third game of the day, so they were a tired and pitching-depleted bunch when they took on the Bulldogs.  Starter Shawn Motl had already pitched a complete game win over Quamba earlier in the day and lasted just two innings against a potent Bulldog lineup.  The Bulldogs scored three runs against Motl and pounded reliever Mitch Ziebarth for seven more.

The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead in the second on a run-scoring single by Adam Brown and a two-run double by Stilp.  The Bandits scored twice in the top of the fourth.  In the bottom of the inning, after the Bulldogs load the bases with one out on three straight singles by Aaron Keeney, Brown and Stilp, Dusty Rhodes walked to drive in a run, Alex Wilkey reached on an error to drive in another, and Couwenhoven hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.  Couwenhoven drove in pinch runner Jack Boeck with a single in the sixth, and another run came across when Jeremy Knutson reached on an error with two outs to make it 8-2.

The Bulldogs kept scoring in the seventh. Pinch hitter Reece Berner led off with an epic 11-pitch at bat, eventually earning a walk.  Brown reached on an error.  After Keeney struck out, Stilp singled to right center to drive in a run.  Rhodes was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Wilkey hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-2.  Couwenhoven stepped up to the plate and drilled a ball to the wall in center field, driving in two runs to make the score 12-2, ending the game.

Hinckley 8, Chisago Lakes 3

On Sunday, August 13, the Bulldogs and Hinckley Knights played a game to decide the first and second seeds from Region 1C for the state tournament.  Seeding is important because the top seed gets a first-round bye in the 48-team single elimination state tournament. Hinckley parlayed a Bulldog error into four unearned runs in the second inning and went on to beat the Bulldogs 8-3, capturing the top seed.

In the bottom of the second, the first Knights batter singled.  The next batter hit an easy double play ball to short, but shortstop Dusty Rhodes booted it, and both runners were safe.  Another single loaded the bases.  A sacrifice fly and a single pushed across the first two runs of the game and, with two outs, a sharp single to left drove in both runners to make it 4-0.

Training 6-0 going into the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs made a bid to get back in the game.  Tyler Stilp. Dusty Rhodes and Alex Wilkey all singled to load the bases with no outs.  Nate Zingerman hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Stilp.  Rhodes scored on a passed ball to cut the Hinckley lead to 6-2.  But Noah Couwenhoven and  Dylan Magnuson struck out to end the rally.  The Knights responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 8-2.  The Bulldogs didn’t go down without a fight in the ninth.  Rhodes walked to lead off the inning.  Josh Weinzetl’s grounder forced Rhodes at second, with Weinzetl reaching on a fielder’s choice.  After pinch hitter Jacob Mickelson struck out, pinch hitter Jeremy Knutson singled.  Dylan Magnuson lined a double to the wall in left to score Weinzetl.  But the rally ended there, as Hackl was called out on strikes to end the game.

Bulldog Banter

The Sunday game at Hinckley marked the end of the umpiring career for longtime umpire Jim Jarvis Sr.  His son Jim Jarvis Jr. was the field umpire for his dad’s last game.  Jarvis took a foul tip hard off his mask on the second to last pitch of the game.  He was able to continue and rung up batter Collin Hackl for strike three on pitch that appeared to be a bit out of the strike zone, a signature Jarvis move and an appropriate way for him to end his career.  Jarvis nearly teared up as he was honored after the game.

---