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Last Saturday at Brennan Field in Hinckley, the Bulldogs had a thrilling 6-2 comeback win in their Region1C elimination bracket game against the Ramsey Renegades.  But in their semifinal game against the Rum River Bandits later that afternoon, they allowed six runs in the first inning and never quite got caught up, losing 11-6 and ending their season.

Chisago Lakes 6, Ramsey 2

Tyler Stilp blasted his first career homerun to tie the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning, and the Bulldogs scored four runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Ramsey Renegades 6-2 in an elimination game in the Region 1C playoffs.  Reed Marquardt pitched five innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the next round of the elimination bracket.

The Renegades manufactured a run in the bottom of the first inning to go up 1-0.  In the bottom of the third, Max Loven hit a high, deep fly ball down the left field line.  The ball went into the trees just before it hooked foul for a home run and a 2-0 Ramsey lead.  Meanwhile, Loven shut the Bulldogs down from the mound, allowing just three harmless singles through the first five innings.  The Bulldogs finally broke through in the top of the sixth.  Reed Marquardt walked with one out and stole second.  One out later, Brendan Hemr grounded a single to right to score Marquardt, cutting the Ramsey lead to 2-1.  In the bottom of the seventh, two walks and a single loaded the bases for Ramsey with one out, and the Bulldogs pulled the infield in.  Ramsey’s Jacob Mitchell hit a hard one-hopper back to Marquardt on the mound.  Marquardt fired it home for the first out, and catcher Beau Fandel whipped a throw to first to nip the runner for an inning-ending double play, keeping the score at 2-1.

Stilp, a captain and the Bulldogs’ longtime third baseman, was one of those excellent hitters who had somehow never hit a home run.  He had hit some long foul ball home runs down the left field line and banged at least half a dozen balls off the fence in left field and left center.  But when he led off the top of the eighth against the Renegades, he hit a laser to straightaway left that everyone in the ballpark knew was gone the moment it left his bat – everyone, that is, except Stilp.  He ran hard to first base and didn’t slow down until he was halfway to second and saw the ball sail over the fence, seemingly still rising.  He had a huge grin on his face as he jogged around the bases, and his teammates mobbed him in the handshake line after he crossed home plate.  The game was now tied 2-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, a single and a walk put runners on first and second for the Renegades.  Grant Brockhouse, the runner on second, took off on the next pitch.  Karr Fager lined the ball to Bulldog shortstop Charlie Mohr for the second out.  As the oblivious Brockhouse slid into third, Mohr flipped the ball to second baseman Dusty Rhodes to complete the double play and end the Ramsey threat.

Jack Boeck lined a single to center to lead off the top of the ninth.  Rhodes sacrificed him to second, and Stilp was intentionally walked.  Fandel lined a double to the wall in left center, scoring Boeck to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.  Marquardt then drilled a single to center to score Stilp and Fandel, making it 5-2.  One out later, the speedy Hemr, who had made a phenomenal running catch in the left center field gap earlier in the game, put an exclamation point on the inning when he lined a ball into the gap in right center.  He was off to the races as the ball bounced to the fence.  Hemr did not hesitate rounding second and slid into third well ahead of the throw for his third triple of the season, scoring Marquardt to make the score 6-2.  Loven doubled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but AJ Kargel grounded out to Stilp to end the game, and the Bulldogs moved on to the next round.

Hunter Lindstrom started for the Bulldogs and went four innings, leaving because he had a long-planned family event to attend.  He allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked none, and struck out one.  In five innings, winning pitcher Marquardt allowed no runs on three hits, walked five, hit one and struck out two.  Loven was dominant for the Renegades for most of the game.  He had held the Bulldogs to just two runs through the first eight innings, but tired in the ninth as the Bulldogs staged their big rally.  In 8 2/3 innings,

Rum River 11, Chisago Lakes 6

Rum River, who had scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat favored Hinckley 12-11 earlier in the day, were seen as a relatively easy matchup for the Bulldogs.  But the Bandits scored six runs off started Bailey Kasprowicz in the top of the first inning and the Bulldogs could never quite catch up, losing 11-6 to end their season.

With one out in the top of the first, center fielder Brendan Hemr hesitated on a ball popped to short center field.  He raced in, but just missed a diving catch.  An infield hit and a hit batter loaded the bases.  Kevin Auth hit a humpbacked liner to left.  Left fielder Nathan Zingerman pulled up short, choosing not to dive for the ball, which fell in for a single and drove in one run.  A ground ball single, a walk, another single and a groundout led to five more runs and a 6-0 Rum River lead.  

The Bulldogs cut the Bandit lead in half in the bottom of the inning.  Reed Marquardt walked with two outs, and Alex Wilkey lined a single to right.  On a 1-1 count, Hemr hit a very high fly ball to center that was a mirror image of the home run he had hit a couple of weeks earlier.  The ball kept carrying and dropped well beyond the 370 sign in straightaway center for a three-run homer, making the score 6-3.

The score stayed that way until the top of the fifth inning, when Rum River scored twice to make the score 8-3.  With the third baseman playing in, Hemr once again showed of his speed by bunting toward third anyway, beating the throw to first by half a step. Kasprowicz singled to left, and Zingerman sacrificed the runners to second and third.  Jack Boeck dumped a single to left to score one run.  Boeck stole second, and Dusty Rhodes walked to load the bases.  Tyler Stilp hit a sacrifice fly to right center to score Kasprowicz.  Beau Fandel lined a double to left center.  Boack scored.  Rhodes was sent home and, despite appearing to get his hand on the plate under the tag, was called out to end the inning with Rum River leading 8-6.

The top of the seventh inning proved to be the undoing for the Bulldogs.  With two outs, an error by second baseman Rhodes, a balk and a single pushed across one run.  Jaxson Skoglund then hit a fly ball to deep left center. 

  The Bandits added another unearned run in the top of the ninth.  Stilp and Fandel singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth.  Marquardt tried to bunt his way on, but bunted it right back to the pitcher, who threw him out at first.  The potential rally fizzled quickly, as Wilkey popped to short and Hemr grounded out to third to end the game and end the season for the Bulldogs.

Starter Kasprowicz lasted just 4 2/3 innings for the Bulldogs.  He allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits, walked three, hit three and struck out just two.  Jacob Mickelson was effective in 4/13 innings of relief.  He allowed three unearned runs on two hits, walked none, hit one and struck out four.

Bulldog Banter

Based on his excellent hitting throughout the playoffs, Tyler Stilp was selected to the Region 1C All-Tournament Team.

Although the Bulldogs fell short of making it back to the state tournament this year, they will still be represented.  The Princeton Panthers, one of the two Region 1C teams to earn a berth in the state tournament, selected Reed Marquardt as one of their draftee pitchers for their state tournament run.  Congratulations to Marquardt!

The Bulldogs will once again have a season-ending gala, likely to be held at Splitrocks Entertainment Center in Wyoming. Date is to be determined.

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