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THE MUG GAME

The Mug is a traveling trophy, provided by Pizza Pub, fought over between the Chisago Lakes Bulldogs and their arch rival, the North Branch Nighthawks, in the annual Mug Game.  The Nighthawks won The Mug for the first five years of the annual game, and Nighthawk players over 21 got to drink out of The Mug before it was displayed along with other trophies at the North Branch Pizza Pub.  The Bulldogs finally won The Mug this year in an epic pitcher’s duel that included some controversy, defeating the Nighthawks 3-1 this past Saturday, July 13 at Pat Collins Field.  This year’s game was an official Karl Oskar Days event.  Beau Fandel threw a complete game one-hitter for the Bulldogs to get the win, and Jimmy Skroch, the winning pitcher for the Nighthawks in all five of the previous Mug Games, took the complete game loss.

Bulldog players over 21 (and one old coach) had a chance to celebrate and drink beer out of the mug at the Center City Pizza Pub for the first time Saturday evening.  The Mug will be on display at the Center City Pizza Pub until next year’s game, when the Bulldogs will carry it to the Nighthawks’ field in North Branch for the Mug game to see who takes it home.

Clint Mattson led off the top of the first for the Nighthawks.  On a 3-2 count, he took a pitch on the outside corner at the letters, but the umpire called it ball four, and he heard about it from the Bulldog fielders and dugout.  Mattson moved to second on a wild pitch, and Skroch grounded out to move Mattson to third.  Andrew Orf grounded out to second, and Mattson scored to give the Nighthawks a 1-0 lead.  The Bulldogs answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first.  Adam Brown drilled the first pitch of the inning to left for a single.  Reed Marquardt grounded to short, forcing Brown at second but beating the relay to first.   Marquardt went to second on a passed ball and scored on a hard single up the middle by Fandel, tying the game at 1-1.  After Alex Wilkey popped out, Tyler Stilp was hit by a pitch.  Charlie Mohr came in as a courtesy runner.  Fandel stole third.  On the next pitch, Mohr took off for second.  Catcher Helin missed a sign and threw down to second to try to get Mohr.  Mohr was safe.  Fandel took off from third when the throw went to second and scored easily to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

In the second, Fandel allowed his only hit of the game, a line single that fell just in front of Bulldog center fielder Nate Zingerman.  In the fourth inning, Zingerman had the game’s next hit.  With one out, he drilled a ball to right center that went over the head of right fielder McKelvey and bounced to the wall.  Zingerman never hesitated while rounding second and slid into third with a triple.  On an 0-1 count, Aaron Keeney hit a fly ball to deep center, scoring Zingerman to put the Bulldogs up 3-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Brendan Hemr hit a ball just inside third base that went to the corner in left for a double.  Hemr stole third.  On a 1-0 count, with Hemr taking a huge lead off third, Skroch fired a strike to Zingerman.  As Helin lobbed the ball back to Skroch, Hemr took off for home.  Skroch fired the ball back to Helin.  Hemr would have been safe if he had slid, but he came in standing up.  He bumped into Helin, knocking him over.  There was some yelling back and forth between the players around the plate, but order was soon restored.  Hemr was called out and ejected from the game for not sliding, and the score remained 3-1.  Skroch pitched out of further trouble.  Fandel set the Nighthawks down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, sealing the win – and The Mug – for the Bulldogs.

Fandel, who set down the last ten batters he faced, allowed one earned run on one hit, walked three and struck out ten.  Skroch allowed three runs – only two earned – on seven hits, walked just one and struck out eight in taking the loss.

Seven games in seven days for Bulldogs

Starting on Monday, July 8, the Bulldogs played seven games in seven days, their most intense week of baseball ever.  They went 4-3 during that stretch, including 3-0 in Eastern Minny League regular season games.

Andover 10, Chisago Lakes 1

The Andover Aces hit Bulldog starter Nate Zingerman hard in the first inning to take an early 5-0 lead and went on to beat the Bulldogs 10-1 Monday, July 8 at Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School.  Zingerman settled down and went eight innings.  He gave up nine runs in total, but only four of the runs were earned because the Bulldog defense made four errors.  The Bulldogs managed just two hits in the in the game, a third-inning single by Nick Brown and a run-scoring double to left by Aaron Keeney in the bottom of the eight that spoiled the shutout.  Keeney also pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the ninth.

Chisago Lakes 18, Elk River 4

In an Eastern Minny League matchup, the Bulldogs chopped down the Elk River Lumberjacks 18-4 in a game shortened to seven innings due to the ten-run rule.  Of six Bulldog errors in the game, two came in the top of the fifth inning, allowing the Lumberjacks to keep the inning alive and score four runs, and costing starter Jacob Mickelson a chance at his second shutout of the season.  Mickelson was pulled with two outs in the fifth, and Hunter Lindstrom came in to finish the game.  Winning pitcher Mickelson allowed four unearned runs on just three hits, walked three, hit one, and struck out four.  In two and a third scoreless innings, Lindstrom allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two.

The Bulldogs pounded out 16 hits, and were helped out by six walks, four hit batters and five Elk River errors.  Aaron Keeney had a three-run double and drove in four runs overall to lead the Bulldogs.  Adam Brown and Alex Wilkey each doubled, and Bailey Kasprowicz and Tyler Stilp drove in two runs apiece.  The game was played Wednesday, July 10 at Pat Collins Field.  

Red Wing 18, Chisago Lakes 5

The Bulldogs’ 18-5 loss to the Red Wing Aces at Osceola on Thursday, July 11 was forgettable for many reasons, not the least of which were six errors by Bulldog fielders for the second game in a row and seven runs allowed in two innings by starting pitcher Dusty Rhodes.  But there were a couple of silver linings for the Bulldogs.  In his first Bulldog pitching appearance ever, Jack Boeck pitched the last five innings of the game.  With one out in the top of the ninth, Boeck had, at that point, allowed one earned run on two hits, walked two and struck out three in an impressive performance.  With a runner on first and one out, the next batter hit a hard one hopper back to Boeck. He fielded it cleanly, turned around and fired about ten feet over the head of shortstop Reed Marquardt.  The Bulldogs should have been out of the inning with a double play, but there was still only one out.  A rattled Boeck went on to give up four more hits and walked three, leading to six unearned Red Wing runs in the inning.  Boeck also had a good day at the plate, going two for three and scoring two runs.  Charlie Mohr, making a rare start, drove in two runs with a line drive single, and two more runs scored when Mohr hit a hard ground ball that skipped under the glove of the Red Wing second baseman. 

Isanti 5, Chisago Lakes 3

Hosting the Isanti Redbirds last Friday, July 12, the Bulldogs outhit the Redbirds 14-7 and starting pitcher Bailey Kasprowicz allowed one earned run on six hits, walked one and struck out seven in eight innings.  Sounds like a big win for the Bulldogs, doesn’t it?  But a seventh inning error by the Bulldogs led to three Isanti runs, Bulldog hitters failed to come up with run-scoring hits despite multiple opportunities in the game, and the Redbirds left town with a 5-3 win over the Bulldogs.  Since the two teams played their Easter Minny League game a couple of weeks ago, this game was a non-league game and does not count in the league standings.

Isanti’s Luke Selken led off the game with a single.  He stole second and third and scored on a one-out single by James Green. A double play got the Bulldogs out of the inning.  In the second inning, a two-out error by shortstop Reed Marquardt, followed by two singles, loaded the bases for the Redbirds.  But Kasprowicz struck out Selken to end the threat.  In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Stilp singled with one out and Alex Wilkey’s two out single to center sent Stilp to third.  Stilp scored on an infield hit by Kasprowicz, and the game was tied 1-1.  With one out in the sixth, Jack Boeck hit a ground ball to short.  The speedy Boeck forced a hurried throw from the Redbird shortstop.  Boack beat the throw to first as it sailed past the Isanti first baseman, and Boeck slid in safely at second.  He moved to third on a groundout to second by Aaron Keeney and scored on a line drive single to center by Adam Brown to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh, the first Isanti batter hit a high popup just behind the mound.  Third baseman Stilp, Marquardt, and second baseman Dusty Rhodes converged on it, with Kasprowicz standing just a few feet away.  None of the fielders called for it.  Stilp made a last second lunge for it, but the ball hit his glove and Charlie Browned onto the ground for an error.  A walk, a flyout and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out.  A single drove in one run, tying the game at 2-2, and left the bases loaded.  A sacrifice fly plated the second run of the inning, giving the Redbirds the lead.  The next batter singled to drive in the third unearned run of the inning before a flyout to center ended the rally with Isanti leading 4-2.  The Redbirds added a run in the top of the eighth without the benefit of a hit.  With a runner on first and two outs, Kasprowicz tried a pickoff throw.  But the ball sailed past first baseman Wilkey and down the right field line, allowing the runner to get all the way to third.  The next batter hit a ground ball to Wilkey.  He charged it and had trouble getting the handle on it.  He flipped it toward Kasprowicz covering, but Kasprowicz had to reach back for it and the ball ticked off Kasprowicz’s glove for an error on Wilkey, allowing Isanti’s fifth run of the game to score.

Stilp and Marquardt singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth.  Wilkey hit a grounder to short.  Marquardt was forced at second, but Wilkey beat the throw to first.  With the third baseman playing back, Tommy Fitzer laid a bunt down the third base line.  Stilp held up at third, but Wilkey advanced to second, and Fitzer beat out the bunt for a hit.  Stilp scored on a wild pitch to cut the Isanti lead to 5-3.  Hemr struck out swinging.  On an 0-1 pitch, Boeck hit a ground ball up the middle that looked like it was going to sneak into center field for a game-tying two-run single.  But Redbird shortstop Troy Jones raced over to field the ball on a low hop and flipped it to second baseman Packy Lind to get Rhodes by a step, ending the game.

Chisago Lakes 14, North Branch 8

After the victory in the Mug Game last Saturday, the Bulldogs played a “friendly” as the second game of a doubleheader with the Nighthawks.  Bailey Kasprowicz hit his first career home run, a no-doubter three run shot to left in the fourth inning as the Bulldogs overwhelmed the undermanned Nighthawks, taking a 14-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth.  Since doubleheader games are only seven innings, if the Bulldogs held the Nighthawks to two runs or less in the inning, the Bulldogs would win by the ten-run rule.  Jimmy Skroch doubled with two outs and the bases empty.  On an 0-2 count, Andrew Orf took a nasty breaking pitch down the middle for what should have been strike three, ending the game.  But the umpire must have been fooled by the pitch because he called it a ball.  Orf fouled off another pitch before he hit a ground ball to short.  Shortstop Charlie Mohr booted it for an error to keep the inning alive.  A hit batter and three straight singles by Brendan McKelvey, Tanner Helin and Austin Darwin pushed across four runs for the Nighthawks before Casey Schwalbe grounded out to end the inning.  In the bottom of the sixth, a run-scoring double by Clint Mattson and a sacrifice fly by Orf cut the Bulldog lead to 14-8, but the Bulldogs stopped the rally and held on for a 14-8 win.

Lindstrom got the complete game win.  He allowed eight runs – only the first two of which were earned – on ten hits, walked one and struck out five.  Three Nighthawk pitchers combined to allow ten hits and walked 12, and the Bulldogs took advantage of their generosity.  The only Bulldog with multiple hits was Tommy Fitzer, with two.  Josh Weinzetl, Alex Wilkey and Aaron Keeney drove in two runs apiece.     

CL 4, Braham 0

Jacob Mickelson threw his second complete game shutout of the season, Bailey Kasprowicz and Tyler Stilp drove in two runs apiece, and the Bulldogs turned their first triple play ever as they beat the Braham Snappers 4-0 at Pat Collins Field on Sunday, July 14, the Bulldogs’ seventh game in seven days.  Mickelson allowed five hits, walked three, struck out eight and calmly pitched out of a couple of jams.

Mickelson walked the first batter of the game and the second batter singled to put runners on first and second.  On a 1-1 count, the next batter hit a hard grounder to third baseman Stilp.  Stilp stepped on third and fired across to first baseman Dusty Rhodes for what looked like a double play.  Rhodes immediately noticed that the runner who had originally been on first was trying to advance to third.  He whipped a perfect throw back to Stilp, who applied the tag on the sliding runner to complete the 5-3-5 triple play.

Aaron Keeney doubled to left with one out in the bottom of the third and scored on a single that fell in front of the Braham right fielder for the first run of the game.  The Bulldogs added three more runs in the fifth.  Zingerman led off with a double to deep right center, and Keeney followed with a single to right that moved Zingerman to third.  One out later, Keeney stole second.  Stilp hit a ground ball to third.  The throw was in the dirt, and the first baseman knocked it down.  Zingerman scored, but Keeney had to hold up at second.  Keeney and Stilp moved up on wild pitches.  After Reed Marquardt struck out, Kasprowicz hit a fly ball to short center field.  The shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder converged on it, but it dropped between the three of them for a single, allowing both runners to score, increasing the Bulldog lead to 4-0.  The Snappers made some noise in the top of the ninth.  A single and an error put runners on first and second with no outs.  But Mickelson wasn’t rattled.  A groundout, a strikeout and another groundout ended the ninth, sealing the win for the Bulldogs.

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