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Chisago Lakes 10, St. Francis 0 (5 innings)

Trent Travis hit a three-run homer and Kellen Meissner threw a three-hitter to lead the Wildcat baseball team to a 10-0 win over the St. Francis Fighting Saints Tuesday, May 19 at Chisago Lakes High School, in the Wildcats’ final regular season home game of 2026. The game was shortened to five innings because of the ten-run rule. Meissner walked just one and struck out four in his complete game shutout of the Fighting Saints.

The Wildcats took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Quinn LeVasseur walked with the bases loaded, and the Wildcats scored two more runs on consecutive groundouts by Xander Breitenbach and Travis. The Wildcats added four more runs in the bottom of the second. Lucas Weinzetl doubled to right  to drive in two runs, Breitenbach singled in a run and LeVasseur scored on a wild pitch. And in the bottom of the fourth, with runners on first and second and no outs, Travis blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall to make the score 10-0.

Coon Rapids 11, Chisago Lakes 6

The Coon Rapids Cardinals exploded for ten runs in the bottom of the third inning and cruised past the Wildcats 11-6 on Wednesday, May 20 at Coon Rapids High School in the final game of the Wildcats’ regular season. The Wildcats led 3-1 going into the decisive bottom of the third inning, but The Cardinals ripped seven hits and Wildcat pitchers walked five to put themselves in the driver’s seat. The Wildcats added three runs in the top of the fifth, but the hill proved to be too high to climb as the team set its sights on the playoffs. Kellen Meissner scored three of the Wildcats’ runs and Trent Travis had two of the Wildcats’ eight hits.

Playoff Preview

For teams in Section 7AAA, the road to the state tournament goes through Grand Rapids. The top-seeded Thunderhawks have gone to the state tournament five years in a row. The Thunderhawks (11-10) may not have a great regular season record, but they play a tough schedule and are always at their best once the section playoffs start. And they have the confidence of a team that expects to win the section championship.

The fifth-seeded Wildcats (8-12) were scheduled to start the double-elimination Section 7AAA playoffs on the road, travelling to Hibbing to take on the fourth-seeded Hibbing Bluejackets yesterday. The Wildcats missed getting a home game against Hibbing by half a QRF point – 83.3 to 82.8.

Results of the game were not available in time for publication in this week’s Press. A win against Hibbing would likely send the Wildcats to a second-round game against top-seeded Grand Rapids today at Grand Rapids, as the Thunderhawks faced the eighth-seeded North Branch Vikings yesterday and likely won. If the Wildcats lose to Hibbing, and assuming North Branch loses, the Wildcats will host the Vikings this afternoon at Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School. If the Wildcats win at least one of their first two games, they will play Saturday at the home field of the higher of the two seeds. If the Wildcats make it through Saturday with one loss or less, they will play at Wade Stadium in Duluth on Tuesday, June 2 and/or Wednesday, June 3. You can keep track of the bracket at mshsl.org.

This is one of those seasons when the Wildcats have a solid senior class, supported by key underclassmen, with the talent and drive to make a run at the section championship. Senior Lucas Weinzetl, who will play in the high school all-star game later in June, batted .506 in the regular season with an OPS of 1.227 and a team-leading 17 RBIs. Senior Kellen Meissner batted .373 and led the team in stolen bases with seven. Senior and leadoff hitter Cole Stilp batted .371, stole 6 bases, scored 20 runs to lead the team, and struck out just three times all season. Other players who hit .300 or better include  sophomore Carter Anderson, juniors Kaiden Melquist and Trent Travis, and sophomore Quinn LeVasseur. LeVasseur also tied Weinzetl for the team lead in RBIs with 17. From a pitching perspective, Weinzetl, Messner and fellow senior Zander Bleymeyer threw 75% of the innings for the Wildcats this season, and all three of them will be needed to get through the grind of the section playoffs. 

Manufacturing a run or two in a tight game could mean the difference between moving on in the playoffs and ending a team’s season. They will likely need to be more aggressive to have shot to win games and possibly get to the state tournament.

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