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Chisago Lakes 10, Becker 8

The Wildcats scored two runs in the top of the seventh to break an 8-8 tie, and reliever Kellen Meissner slammed the door in the bottom of the inning to seal the Wildcats’ 10-8 win over the Becker Bulldogs Monday, May 12 at Becker High School.

On a 3-2 count, Nick Bjelland walked with the bases loaded in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1.  The Wildcats scored two more runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead, with a single by Xander Breitenbach driving in the second run of the inning.  The Bluejackets responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-3 lead.  In the top of the fourth, the Wildcats loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter.  Lucas Weinzetl singled to left to drive in two runs.  Kellen Meissner’s grounder forced Weinzetl at second.  Meissner stole second.  One out later, Breitenbach lined a single to center to drive in two runs, tying the game at 7-7.

In the top of the fifth, Brayden Anderson doubled to center with one out and scored on Cole Stilp’s double to left to give the Wildcats an 8-7 lead. Brayden Anderson singled to lead off the top of the second. One out later, Carson Drury walked.  Weinzetl hit a grounder to short.  An error by the shortstop allowed Anderson to score, and courtesy runner Jadon Greene went all the way to third.  Meissner grounded a single to center to score Greene, and the Wildcats led 10-8.  Meissner came in to close out the game in the bottom of the seventh, and things got a bit interesting.  He hit a batter with one out.  After a popup for the second out, Meissner hit another batter to put runners on first and second.  But the next batter lined out to second baseman Nick Bjelland for the third out, sealing the win for the Wildcats.

Chuck Gilman picked up the win in relief of starter Xander Bleymeyer.  Gilman allowed two runs – one earned – on two hits, walked one and struck out two.  Meissner picked up the save with one inning of scoreless relief.

Monticello 7, Chisago Lakes 2

The Monticello Magic scored six runs in the first four innings and went on to beat the Wildcats 7-2 Tuesday, May 13 at Chisago Lakes High School.  With the Wildcats trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the third, run-scoring singles from Cole Stilp and Kellen Meissner cut the Magic lead to 4-2.  But with the bases loaded and two outs, a snap throw from the Magic catcher picked off Meissner at first, ending the Wildcat rally.  Monticello responded with two runs in the top of the fourth to stretch their lead back to four and added a run in the sixth to make the final score 7-2.  Lucas Weinzetl started and took the loss for the Wildcats, allowing six runs (four earned) in four innings.  He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out two.  Carson Drury pitched the last three innings, allowing one earned run on three hits.  He walked one and struck out two.

Chisago Lakes 2, Cambridge-Isanti 1

With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Xander Breitenbach singled to drive in Lucas Weinzetl with the winning run, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Wednesday, May 14 at Chisago Lakes High School.  Kellen Meissner threw a complete game in one of the best Wildcat pitching performances of the season.  He allowed one earned run on four hits, walked just one and struck out ten.

In the bottom of the third, Chuck Gilman reached on an error and advanced all the way to third on the play.  Gilman scored on Jadon Greene’s sacrifice fly to right, and the Wildcats led 1-0.  The Bluejackets scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1.  Lucas Wienzetl singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh and advanced to third on a bad pickoff throw.  Meissner walked before Breitenbach’s single to right sent the Wildcat faithful home with smiles on their faces.

Chisago Lakes 12, Hermantown 11 (8 innings)

The Wildcats certainly lived up to their name in this one.  In a wild finish to a wild game, Hermantown scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take an 11-7 lead.  The Wildcats came back with five in the bottom of the inning, with Cole Stilp scoring a wild pitch to give the Wildcats a 12-11 win over the Hawks Tuesday, May 13 at Chisago Lakes High School.

Xander Breitenbach’s sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  The Hawks scored two runs with two outs in the top of the second to go up 2-1.  Stilp singled to center to score Jadon Greene in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 2-2.  In the third, Trenton Travis singled up the middle to score Lucas Weinzetl, and Breitenbach scored from third on an errant throw when the Hermantown pitcher tried to pick off courtesy runner Nate Wehrenberg at first.  In the fourth, Lucas Weinzetl doubled to center to score Stilp, and scored on a single by Travis to make the score 6-2.  The Wildcats seemed to be in control.

But the Hawks had other ideas.  They scored twice in the fifth, twice in the sixth and once in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead.  In the bottom of the seventh, Carson Drury walked with the bases loaded – Hermantown pitching’s third walk of the inning – to score Kellen Meissner with the tying run.  A grounder that forced the runner out at home and a strikeout ended the Wildcat rally, sending the game into extra innings.

Chuck Gilman came in to pitch the top of the eighth and was not helped out by the Wildcat defense.  The first two batters reached on errors, with a run scoring to give the Hawks an 8-7 lead.  The next two batters popped out.  Two more singles pushed across a run to make it 9-7.  The inning could have ended after a bunt by the next batter, but two errors on the play allowed two more runs to score, making it 11-7.  Gilman walked the next batter, but the following batter flew out to end the inning.

Travis doubled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout by  Nick Bjelland, cutting the Hawk lead to 11-8.  Gilman singled, and Greene and Brayden Anderson walked to load the bases.  Stilp stepped up to the plate and, on a 1-2 pitch, doubled to center to clear the bases, tying the game at 11-11.  He moved to third on a passed ball. A wild pitch followed.  Stilp took off from third.  The ball bounced hard off the backstop pad.  The catcher moved a couple of steps to pick it up, turned around and tried to beat Stilp to the bag.  The play was close, Stilp and the catcher dove toward the plate, but Stilp just got his hand under the tag and touched the plate to give the Wildcats an exciting win. Gilman, the Wildcats’ fourth pitcher of the day, picked up the win.  Wildcat head coach Carter Vogt said “This was a wild and fun game to be a part of.  It was fun to watch the kids battle!”

Baseball Banter

The Section 7AAA playoffs start next Wednesday, May 28.  Based on the current QRF rankings, the fifth-seeded Wildcats (7-10) would likely face the fourth-seeded Hermantown Hawks on Wednesday at Hermantown.  After that, the next two rounds will be at the high seed’s home field, as well.  The finals of the championship bracket, the consolation bracket and the section championship will be held at North Branch High School, with the section championship taking place on June 4.  The section tournament bracket is at mshsl.org

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