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Mora 20, Chisago Lakes 1 (five innings)

In a baseball game at Mora last Friday, intended as a tuneup for the upcoming playoffs, most of the Bulldog players decided to take the evening off. Eight Bulldog players made the trip to Mora to face the Blue Devils, and the Bulldogs’ elderly manager (who is on the roster) was drafted to be the ninth player, to avoid a forfeit. The Class C Blue Devils, looking to get some pre-playoff work for some of their pitchers, started one of the top pitchers in the Eastern Minny League, Derek Graves. Mora crushed the Bulldogs 20-1. The game was shortened to five innings due to the 15-run rule.

Bulldog pitchers combined to give up 13 hits, walked ten and hit five batters in four innings, leading to the 20-run barrage by Mora. Brayden Anderson was the only Bulldog pitcher who was effective. He pitched the last 1 1/3 innings. Anderson allowed no runs on one hit, walked one and struck out two. Zander Bleymeyer had two of the Bulldogs’ four hits and drove in their only run. At least the Bulldogs enjoyed socializing with the Blue Devils after the game.

Chisago Lakes 10, Isanti 2

With a more solid lineup in place, the Bulldogs welcomed the Isanti Redbirds to Chisago Lakes High School on Sunday, August 2 in their final tuneup before next weekend’s playoffs. The game was a pitcher’s duel until Isanti decided to try some little-used pitchers late in the game. The Bulldogs pounced all over those pitchers, scoring ten runs in the final three innings to beat the Redbirds 10-2.

The Bulldogs got work for three pitchers prior to the playoffs. Cole Hentges got the start. In four solid innings, he allowed one unearned run on one hit, walked one and struck out four. Jacob Nickelson pitched three innings and picked up his eighth win of the season, allowing one earned run on four hits. He walked one and struck out two. Lucas Weinztel pitched two scoreless innings to finish up. He allowed one hit, walked one, hit two and struck out one.

Brendan Hemr blasted a long two-run home run to left center in the seventh inning, his league-leading sixth home run of the season. The dinger also broke the Bulldog record of five home runs, set by Hemr last year. Ty Escobedo, Alex Wilkey and Brayden Anderson had two hits each, and Wilkey drove in two runs.

Isanti pitcher James Green, a teacher at Chisago Lakes Middle School and a coach in the Wildcat baseball program, started and went three innings for Isanti, shutting down the Bulldogs in his last start before the playoffs.

Playoff Preview

The Bulldogs (21-8 overall) earned the second seed on the Eastern Minny League (EML) side in the eight-team District 1B playoffs. All District 1B playoff games will take place at Cold Spring Baseball Park in Cold Spring, Minn. Three of the eight teams in the playoffs will head to the state tournament, which starts the weekend of August 21-23 and runs for three weekends.

If a team wins its first two games in the playoffs, they will advance to the state tournament. They would then play a game against the other two-game winners to determine the number one and number two seeds at state. The Bulldogs will face the St. Joseph Joes (10-9) in the opening game of the District 1B tournament on Saturday, August 8 at 10:30 a.m. The Joes are the number three seed from the Sauk Valley League (SVL). The winner of the Bulldogs-Joes game will advance to a winner’s bracket game against the winner of the game between the number one seeded Cold Spring Springers (SVL) (19-2) and the fourth-seeded Princeton Panthers (EML) (12-5) on Sunday, August 9 at 2 p.m. The losers of the initial two games will drop to an elimination bracket matchup on Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m. Cold Spring is the team to beat in the tournament, as thy are ranked at or near the top of Class B by various sources.

The Bulldogs have the edge in pitching depth over most of the District 1B playoff teams, with Beau Fandel, Jacob Mickelson, and Bailey Kasprowicz among the EML leaders in ERA. Newcomer Tommy Meyer and true closer Reed Marquardt round out the top of the Bulldog pitching staff. On the hitting side of things, the Bulldogs have a potent mixture of power and speed, with Brendan Hemr, Marquardt, and Brayden Anderson at or near the top of the EML in various offensive categories. The Bulldogs have a solid infield with Marquardt and Ty Escobedo anchoring the middle, Lucas Weinzetl and Tyler Stilp holding down third base and glove wizard Alex Wilkey anchoring the infield at first base. The Bulldogs have the fastest outfield in the league, with Hemr in center field and Anderson in left. Calvin Coppersmith, likely the fastest player in the EML, is a human highlight film in right field. Fandel leads an exceptional catching corps for the Bulldogs, along with Nick Brown and Joey Hemr.

Another strength of the Bulldogs is their deep bench. Carson Luxem is a true utility player who can fill in anywhere at any time. If the Bulldogs need a pitch hitter, injury fill-in, pinch runner, defensive replacement, bunt or some innings on the mound, Zander Bleymeyer, Cole Hentges, River Bemlott, Tommy Fitzer, Jeremy Knutson, Jack Boeck, Caden Coppersmith, Tripp Stensrud and Tanner Marquardt will be ready to provide one or more of those skills when called upon.

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