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Forest Lake 5, Chisago Lakes 2

The Bulldogs took on the Forest Lake Brewers in their first home game of the season in the Forest Lake Brewers and came put on the short end of a 5-2 score.  The game was played Saturday, May 11 at Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School.  The Brewers scored twice in the top of the third inning off Bulldog starter Nate Zingerman.  In the bottom of the inning, Aaron Keeney led off with a single to center and scored on a triple to right center by Bulldog newcomer Beau Fandel.  Another Bulldog newcomer, Brendan Hemr, singled to drive in Fandel, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.  Brewer Sean Graff blasted a homer to left in the top of the fifth inning to give Forest Lake a 3-2 lead.  The Brewers added single unearned runs in the sixth and eighth innings.  The Bulldogs had just three hits in the game and had just three baserunners after the fifth inning.  Zingerman went five innings and gave up three earned runs on five hits, walked three and struck out four.  Relievers Jeremy Knutson, Fandel and Jacob Mickelson combined for two unearned runs on one hit, walked four and struck out five.

Shoreview 13, Chisago Lakes 0 (5 innings)

In the first of two games Sunday, May 12 at Quamba, Shoreview StumpGrinders pitcher Jake Orthaus threw a perfect game as the StumpGrinders demolished the Bulldogs 13-0.  Orthaus struck out four in the outing.  None of the three Bulldog pitchers used in this game were effective, allowing 12 hits and walking nine.

Chisago Lakes 4, Quamba 3

In the second game Sunday, with the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth against the Quamba Cubs , Aaron Keeney singled to right to drive in Ryan Sanvik with the go-ahead run, and the Bulldogs held on for a 4-3 win.  Jacob Mickelson pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs.  He allowed three earned runs on eight hits, walked none, and struck out two.  Mickelson kept the Cubs off-balance with an assortment of pitches and got them to hit the ball on the ground a lot.  He also had to get some extra outs because of four Bulldog errors.

With the Bulldogs trailing 2-0, Jack Boeck and Arron Keeney led off with back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fifth.  One out later, Tyler Stilp ripped a double to deep left center to score Boeck.  Reed Marquardt singled to drive in Keeney, and Stilp scored on a wild pitch to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.  In the top of the sixth, with runners on second and third and two outs, the Quamba hitter singled to left.  One run scored, but left fielder Brendan Hemr’s perfect throw nailed the second runner in a very close play at the plate, keeping the score tied at 3-3.

Ryan Sanvik and Charlie Mohr walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning.  One out later, Sanvik stole third and Mohr, on the next play, stole second.  Keeney’s single knocked in Sanvik.  Hemr hit a high foul popup about 60 feet past first base.  The first baseman caught it with his back to home plate.  Mohr took off from third to try to score.  The first baseman fired the ball toward home.  Hemr, about halfway up the first base line, had turned to watch the play at the plate.  The throw hit him square in the back, and Mohr was ruled out because of the interference.  A weird double play, indeed.  With two outs in the top of the seventh, a single and an error put runners on first and second for Quamba.  The next batter hit a two-hop grounder toward short.  The ball hit the runner crossing in front of shortstop Reed Marquardt for the third out, ending the game.

Minnetonka 10, Chisago Lakes 4

Two critical errors in the top of the seventh inning led to six unearned runs for the Minnetonka Monarchs, and they went on to beat the Bulldogs 10-4 Saturday, May 18 at Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School.

The Bulldogs drew first blood in the bottom of the first with two outs when Alex Wilkey singled to center to drive in Adam Brown, who had reached on an error to open the inning.  The Monarchs tied it up in the top of the fourth.  Reed Marquardt singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth.  Alex Wilkey singled to right, and Beau Fandel singled to left to drive in Marquardt.  But the rally stopped there as three straight Bulldog batters struck out to end the inning.

Disaster struck in the seventh.  After a leadoff single, the next batter hit a bouncer to short.  Shortstop Marquardt’s throw to second was wild, and both runners were safe.  A walk loaded the bases.    With the infield in, the next batter hit a two-hopper to Marquardt.  Marquardt threw home in plenty of time to get the runner, but catcher Adam Brown dropped the ball.  The run scored, the bases were still loaded, and the game was tied 2-2.  The next batter singled to drive in a run and give the Monarchs a 3-2 lead. After a strikeout, Griffin Schneider blasted a ball well over the fence in straightaway left for a grand slam to make the score 7-2.  The Monarchs added three more runs in the top of the eighth.  Dusty Rhodes and Tyler Stilp each singled in a run in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score 10-4.

Chisago Lakes 8, Becker 0

Jacob Mickelson pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Bulldogs to an 8-0 win over the Becker Bandits Sunday, May 19 at Becker High School.  Mickelson walked just two batters and struck out seven.  The Bandits only hit three or four balls hard all day as Mickelson kept them off balance with his array of breaking pitches.  Mickelson, in his sixth year with the Bulldogs, also picked up his first two career hits for the team.

Alex Wilkey had a run-scoring single in the first inning, and Aaron Keeney singled to drive in a run in the second to put the Wildcats up 2-0.  With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth, Jack Boeck hit a grounder to short.  The shortstop threw the ball to second for the force there.  Josh Weinzetl was heading home from third and would have scored easily.  But he fell down about two-thirds of the way home.  He managed to get up, took a couple of steps and flopped onto home plate, just beating the throw from the second baseman.  The Bulldogs led 3-0.

The Bulldogs put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh.  A double by Beau Fandel and a single by Dusty Rhodes each drove in a run.  Fandel and Rhodes then later scored on passed balls, and the Bulldogs led 7-0.  Rhodes singled to drive in Mickelson for the second time in the game in the top of the eighth.  The only suspense left in the game was whether Mickelson would be able to complete his shutout.  He set down the Bandits in order in the bottom of the eighth.  He walked the first batter in the bottom of the ninth.  One out later, a groundout moved the runner to second.  The runner moved up on a wild pitch.  But the next batter grounded to first to end the game with the 8-0 shutout intact.

Bulldog Banter

The Bulldogs (3-4) will take the Memorial Day weekend off and then head across the border to play the Osceola Braves Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Oakey Park in Osceola.

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