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North Branch 10, Chisago Lakes 2

The middle of the North Branch Vikings’ batting lineup – Andrew Orf, Sam Robillard, and Noah Thorsen – combined for six hits and drove in seven runs as the Vikings crushed the Chisago Lakes Wildcats 10-2 Tuesday, May 16 at Chisago Lakes.  Thorsen started on the mound and went five shutout innings.  He allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out six.  Carter Drill and Jacob Karnes each pitched an inning, allowing one run each and striking out two apiece.  Four Wildcat pitchers gave up a combined 10 hits and walked three Vikings.

Thorsen started things off with a bang with a two-run homer in the first inning.  In the second, a run scored when Loghan Croal reached on an error.  Orf singled in a run later that inning, and the Vikings led 4-0.  Orf doubled to drive in another run in the top of the fourth, making it 5-0.  Karnes singled in a run in the fifth.  In the sixth, Orf singled to drive in his third run of the game.  Robillard followed with a two-run double, and later scored on a passed ball to make it 10-0.  The Vikings nearly won by the ten-run rule, but with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Tyler Drury reached on an error for the Wildcats, and Trae Griffin scored on the play to make it 10-1.  Collin Hackl singled for the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh and Logan Thorstad came all the way around to score on an error, making the final score 10-2.

CHISAGO LAKES

Chisago Lakes 1, Big Lake 0

Luke Urhammer threw a four-hitter and Jack Bjelland drove in the game’s only run with a second inning single as the Wildcats beat the Big Lake Hornets 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, May 18 at Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School.

With one out in the bottom of the second, Dominic Torrez walked, went to second when Urhammer reached on an  error and scored on Bjelland’s line drive single up the middle to give the Wildcats the only run they would need.  Urhammer had to pitch out of two jams in the top of the fifth.  He hit the leadoff batter.  The next batter bunted and reached on an error by third baseman Trae Griffin.  But the following hitter lined to Griffin, who turned it into an unassisted double play, leaving a runner on first and two outs.  A walk and an error by shortstop Jack Walker loaded the bases.  But the next batter grounded out to Walker, ending the threat.  

Urhammer allowed a one-out double in the top of the seventh.  The next batter flew out, and the final batter struck out swinging to end the game.  Urhammer walked just one batter and struck out four in picking up the win.

Big Lake 7, Chisago Lakes 5

In the second game of the doubleheader, the lead changed hands three times in the first three innings, and the Hornets led 5-4 after three.  They opened a bit of the gap with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and went on to beat the Wildcats 7-5.  Reece Berner went three-for-four and drove in four of the Wildcats’ five runs.

Berner singled to left to drive in two runs in the top of the first.  Big Lake scored once in the bottom of the first and twice in the second to take a 3-2 lead.  In the third, Collin Hackl singled, stole second and scored on Berner’s single to right, with Berner advancing to second on the throw home.  Tyler Drury reached on an error, sending Berner to third.  Berner scored on the back end of a double steal to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead.  Big Lake took a 5-4 lead with three straight hits in the bottom of the third.  The next batter struck out, catcher Kellen Meissner threw out a runner trying to steal second, and a pop put ended the inning with no further damage.  But a two run double in the bottom of the fifth put the Hornets up 7-4.  Berner’s single to left drove in a run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 7-5.  But the Wildcats went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, settling for a split in the doubleheader.

Chisago Lakes 4, Hermantown 1

The Wildcats staked starter Jack Walker to an early four-run lead, and Walker responded with a four hitter as the Wildcats beat the Hermantown Hawks 4-1 Friday, May 19 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats had six baserunners in the first inning, but only scored twice.  Walker led off with a double and went to third on Reece Berner’s single.  Walker was thrown out at home.  Berner advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch.  Collin Hackl was hit by a pitch.  Berner scored on a passed ball. Trae Griffin walked, and Domonic Torrez singled to load the bases.  Andrew Mandell hit a sacrifice fly to score Hackl, and the Wildcats led 2-0.  In the second, Ian Larsen singled to lead off the inning.  Gavin Lewis struck out and Jack Walker reached on a fielder’s choice, with Larsen out at second.  Berner reached on an error to extend the inning, and Hackl singled to center to drive in Walker, with Berner moving all the way to third.  On the next pitch, Hackl took off for second.  As the throw went down to second, Berner raced home and scored before Hackl was tagged out, giving the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth, the Hawks used a single, a walk and another single to load the bases with two outs.  Walker walked in a run, but the next batter grounded to second to end the threat.  Hermantown went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, sealing the win for the Wildcats.  Walker walked just two batters and struck out nine in picking up the win.

Baseball Banter

In their final regular season game, the Wildcats (8-9) will host the Forest Lake Rangers tonight starting at 4:30 p.m. at Pat Collins Field.  The section playoffs begin Tuesday, May 30.  The Wildcats may have a home game on that day.  Check out mshsl.org this weekend for an update.  We will preview the rest of the section tournament in next week’s Press.

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