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Chisago Lakes 8, Princeton 0
Tommy Meyer and Beau Fandel combined for a four-hit shutout and Brendan Hemr drove in four runs, including a three-run triple, to lead the Bulldogs to an 8-0 win over the Princeton Panthers Wednesday, July 15 at Chisago Lakes High School. Starter Meyer threw five innings. He allowed two hits, walked two and struck out four. Fandel, who caught the first five innings, said “Tommy did a great job on a day when he didn’t even have his best stuff.” Fandel pitched the final four innings to pick up the save. He allowed two hits and struck out seven, appearing to have overcome some early season arm issues.

Princeton starter Brent Tholen had shut down the Bulldogs before what can only be described as a strange fifth inning. Tholen hit the first three batters of the inning - Ty Escobedo, Lucas Weinzetl, and Brayden Anderson – to load the bases with no outs. Escobedo scored on a wild pitch to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. After Calvin Coppersmith popped out for the first out, Hemr lined a single to left to score Weinzetl. Reed Marquardt beat out an infield single to second. The throw from second baseman Damon Rademacher bounced past first, and Anderson scored to make it 3-0.

The sixth inning had a more conventional start for the Bulldogs. Against reliever Cedric Moreno, Escobedo, Weinzetl, and Anderson each singled, loading the bases with no outs. Coppersmith lined a single to center to score Escobedo. Hemr then blasted his seventh triple of the season to right center, clearing the bases and making the score 7-0. Marquardt hit a sacrifice fly to deep left to score Hemr, and the Bulldogs led 8-0. Fandel shut down the Panthers the rest of the way to seal the win over one of the Eastern Minny League’s best teams.

Chisago Lakes 18, East Bethel 0
Brendan Hemr continued his offensive rampage against the unfortunate East Bethel Bandits on Monday, July 20 at St. Francis High School. He had two homers, a triple and seven RBIs to lead the Bulldogs to an 18-0 win over the Bandits in a game that was shortened to six innings because of the 15-run rule. Jacob Mickelson had another excellent start for the Bulldogs. In his 73-pitch complete game stint, he allowed three hits, walked none, and struck out three.

Hemr long solo home run to left in the top of the first sparked a six-run inning. Back-to-back doubles by Alex Wilkey and Ty Escobedo drove in three runs, and the Bulldogs led 6-0 right off the bat. In the fourth, Zander Bleymeyer and Calvin Coppersmith singled to lead off before Hemr launched a majestic shot that disappeared high into the smoky air in left field for a three-run homer. The Bulldogs manufactured three more runs in the fifth on a single, a hit batter, a fielder’s choice, a walk, a stolen base, a wild pitch, an error on a pickoff attempt, and a groundout. In the sixth, after Escobedo singled to drive in a run and Lucas Weinzetl drove in another with a sacrifice fly,  Brayden Anderson and Bleymeyer walked to load the bases. Coppersmith walked to score Escobedo, making the score 15-0.  On a 2-0 count, Hemr launched a fly ball to deep right center. It hit the warning track and bounced off the wall. The speedy Hemr cruised into third with a three-run standup triple to make the score 18-0. The Bandits tried to spoil Mickelson’s shutout, loading the bases on two errors and a single in the bottom of the sixth. After an infield fly for the second out, the next batter hit a one hop comebacker to Mickelson, who took his time and fired a perfect strike to Wilkey at first for the third out, completing the shutout.

Bulldog Banter
The Bulldogs (18-7 overall, 9-4 Eastern Minny League) finished their league season against the Mora Blue Devils last night (assuming it didn’t get rained out). The Bulldogs await the results of the last few league games for the other Eastern Minny League Class B teams to determine their seeding for the upcoming Region 1B playoffs, which will take place over two weekends starting the weekend of August 7. The Bulldogs will play several “friendlies” in the meantime to stay tuned up for the playoffs. On Sunday, July 26 they will  head to Albertville to take on the Anglers at 3 p.m. And next Wednesday, July 29 they will welcome the Quamba Cubs to Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School for a 7:30 p.m. game.

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