Bulldogs season ends in tough 4-1 loss to Fergus Falls at state tourney
The clock struck midnight for Cinderella.
Bulldogs ride drafted pitchers to first ever win at state tourney
Princeton’s Damon Rademacher threw eight strong innings to help the ‘Dogs beat the Veseli Warriors 4-3 in the opening round of Class C state
In their first state tournament appearance in 17 years – and only the second state appearance in team history – the Chisago Lakes Bulldogs, behind eight strong innings from draftee Damon Rademacher, beat the Veseli Warriors 4-3 Saturday, August 19 at Saints Field in Dassel. Draftee Phil Bray set down the Warriors 1-2-3 in the ninth to seal the win and pick up the save. Adam Brown’s single in the sixth inning scored Noah Couwenhoven to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead, and they hung on for the win.
Bulldogs just one win from state tournament
The Chisago Lakes Bulldogs will play in the Region 1C championship game for the first time since the team re-formed in 2014. In the winners’ bracket semifinal game Sunday, August 6, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-5 lead against the North Branch Nighthawks. The Nighthawks rallied in the top of the ninth, but Tyler Stilp came in to get the final two outs to seal a 7-6 win for the Bulldogs. The win sends the Bulldogs to the Region 1C championship game against the second-seeded Hinckley night this Saturday, August 12 at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will be the region champion and earn a berth to the state tournament, while the loser will play either the Quamba Cubs, Rum River Bandits or North Branch Nighthawks on August 12 at 5 p.m. for another chance to the state tournament. The two state qualifying teams will then play on Sunday, August 13 at 1 p.m. to determine which will be the number one seed from the region for the state tournament. The number one seed gets a bye in the first round of the state tournament.
‘Dogs split two ahead of late season push
Reece Berner’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning doubled the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-0 over the Rum River Bandits, and the Bulldogs went on to beat the Bandits 5-1 Sunday, July 8 at Pat Collins Field. Noah Couwenhoven started and allowed just one hit in seven innings of work. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out four. Dylan Magnuson pitched a scoreless eighth, and Tyler Stilp allowed one unearned run in the ninth.
Chisago Bulldogs beat Redbirds for first time
Aaron Keeney’s infield single drove in Nate Zingerman from third base to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 walkoff win over the Isanti Redbirds Friday, June 30. It’s the first time the Bulldogs have beaten the Redbirds since the Redbirds joined the Eastern Minny League in 2019. The game was a home game for the Bulldogs but was played at Redbird Field in Isanti due to issues with the lights at Pat Collins Field.
Bulldogs scoring runs in bunches during 2-1 week
In a non-league game, the Bulldogs lost to the Andover Huskies 6-5 in 11 innings. The game was played Monday, June 19 at Oakey Park in Osceola.
Chisago Bulldogs off to a fine start, split with Nighthawks
The Chisago Lakes Bulldogs town team is 5-3 in the Eastern Minny League Central Division and 5-7 overall this season. The Bulldogs, historically a competitive team with decent pitching and low run production that didn’t win a lot of games, added players that have improved both their pitching and hitting. Their run production is second in the 14-team Eastern Minny League so far this season, and their pitching in league games has been very good. The toughest part of the schedule is coming up over the next few weeks, and the Bulldogs seem to be up to the challenge.
Wildcats stick it to Centennial in section title game, headed to consolation championship at state
The top-seeded Wildcats boys’ lacrosse team avenged last year’s loss to the Centennial Cougars in the Section 7 championship game by beating the second-seeded Cougars 8-6 in this season’s section championship game Thursday, June 8 at Chisago Lakes High School. This marks the Wildcats’ second trip to the state tournament, with the first coming in 2021. The Wildcats opened this year’s state tournament against third-seeded Shakopee Tuesday, June 13 at Stillwater High School. The Wildcats’ next game will be today at White Bear Lake High School, and the time and opponent will depend on whether they won or lost this past Tuesday. You can find the tournament bracket at mshsl.org.
State track results
The Class AA state track meet was held at St. Michael Albertville High School Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11. Both Chisago Lakes and North Branch girls were well represented at the meet, while the boys just had a few participants. There were four individual girl medalists for Chisago Lakes and three individual girl medalists for North Branch. North Branch also had their 4x200 girls relay team medal. For the boys, Elias Hallan medaled in the pole vault and for North Branch, Nick Bovitz medaled in the long jump.
SECTION SUCCESS: NB and CL send multiple athletes to state meet
In our sports preview issue earlier this spring, Wildcat girls’ track head coach Nathan Appleby said he thought the Wildcat girls would get 15 spots at the state meet this year. Appleby was right on the mark, as six athletes will take 15 spots at state, including eight spots in a total of two relays. The boys will send six athletes to state, for a total of seven spots, including four spots in a relay. First and second place finishers, plus any athletes who hit certain qualifying marks, advance to the state tournament.
NB and CL baseball bow out of sections in tough fashion
The North Branch baseball team had a roller coaster ride through sections, and the first major bump proved to be too big to overcome.
CL socks North Branch in upper bracket, will rematch for section softball championship
Courtesy runner Jess Dittel scored on a wild pitch with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the top-seeded Wildcats a 4-3 win over the fifth-seeded Cloquet Lumberjacks in the championship bracket of the Section 7AAA softball tournament Saturday, May 27 at Braun Park in Cloquet. Sam Johnson drove in all three of the Wildcats’ runs prior to the winning run. The win sent the Wildcats to face the second-seeded North Branch Vikings in the next round of the section tournament Tuesday, May 30 at the Grand Rapids Sports Complex.
First round loss huge blow to Wildcat chances
River Bemlott and Logan Thorstad pitched a combined four-hitter and allowed just one run against the Forest Lake Rangers. But the Wildcats did not score against the Rangers and lost 1-0 in the final game of the 2023 regular season. The game was played at Chisago Lakes High School Thursday, May 25.
CL third at M8C Championships, NB fifth
The Wildcats girls’ track team finished third in the Mississippi 8 Conference championship held Wednesday, May 24 at Big Lake while the North Branch girls came in fifth. On the boys’ side, the Wildcats came in last out of eight teams and NB seventh. Seventh-grader Annika Hall won the 3200-meter run in 11:37.85, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Makenna Sjoberg of Cambridge-Isanti. She also came in second in the 1600-meter run. And sophomore Catharine Larson won the triple jump with a leap of 34’2”.
Thorsen powers Vikings to 10-2 blowout over Wildcats
The middle of the North Branch Vikings’ batting lineup – Andrew Orf, Sam Robillard, and Noah Thorsen – combined for six hits and drove in seven runs as the Vikings crushed the Chisago Lakes Wildcats 10-2 Tuesday, May 16 at Chisago Lakes. Thorsen started on the mound and went five shutout innings. He allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out six. Carter Drill and Jacob Karnes each pitched an inning, allowing one run each and striking out two apiece. Four Wildcat pitchers gave up a combined 10 hits and walked three Vikings.
Wildcats get revenge on NB, win 3-2 in potential section final preview
Ashley Mandell’s two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Chisago Lakes Wildcats up 3-0 over the North Branch Vikings. The Vikings rallied in the sixth and again in the seventh but fell short and lost 3-2 to the Wildcats, resulting in a split in the season series.
CL finishes eighth at true team state
The Wildcats girls finished eighth in the 12-team State Class AA Girls’ True Team track meet, held Saturday, May 20 at Stillwater High School. The only Wildcat to win an event was Annika Hall, whose time of 11:28.74 was over 22 seconds faster than second-place finisher Laina Viere of Rocori.
Chisago Lakes goes 3-1
Jack Walker pitched the best game of the season for the Wildcats so far, allowing just one hit and walking one as the Wildcats shut out the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 10-0 in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, May 9 at Adolph Larson Field in Cambridge. Walker struck out eight and needed just 62 pitches in the game, which was shortened to five innings because of the ten-run rule.
Chisago Lakes keeps running up victories
Ashley Mandell hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard and pitched seven strong innings to lead the Wildcats to a 6-2 win over the St. Peter Saints in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 3 at Jefferson Fields in St. Peter. With the Wildcats leading 2-1 in the top of the fifth, Melana Larson hit a bases-loaded single to drive in two runs. Melanie Anderson followed with a run-scoring single, and the Wildcats led 5-1. Larson singled in another run in the top of the seventh. Mandell allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out seven.
Offense the name of the game for CL and opponents
The rain-shortened 2023 baseball season has been a wild ride for the 5-6 Wildcats. In eleven games, they have scored a remarkable 70 runs, but have also given up 89 runs in that stretch.
‘Cats sweep Sibley East Invite
The Wildcat track teams continue to enjoy one of their best seasons in recent history. Both the boys and girls won the Sibley East Lions Invitational on Friday, May 5, in each case beating out second-place Sibley in the eight-team fields.
Wildcats on a roll, winning 6 of 7
The Wildcat softball team, ranked eighth in Class 3A, is on a roll, winning six of their last seven games as they head toward another potential state tournament experience. They swept a doubleheader at home with the Big Lake Hornets on Tuesday, May 2, winning 7-2 and 8-0. The next day, they headed to Jefferson Fields in St. Peter, winning twice against the St. Peter Saints, 6-2 and 12-1. On Friday, May 5, they suffered their only loss during the seven-game stretch, falling 2-1 at home to the New Ulm Eagles. And this past Tuesday, they headed to Cambridge to play the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets and swept their third straight doubleheader, winning 3-0 and 11-5. Details on these games will be in next week’s Press.
‘Cats swept by Magic but rebound to hang 20 on Becker Bulldogs
Poor field conditions due to rain and lingering snow caused cancellation and postponement of Wildcat baseball games throughout April, with the Wildcats limited to just one game until April 25. The Wildcats finally started playing a more-regular schedule starting late in April, with doubleheaders being the order of the day to try to get in as many games as possible in the shortened season. Hitters seem to have an advantage over pitchers, so far. In their recent four game stretch, the Wildcats went 2-2. They scored 33 runs and allowed 38 runs in those four games.
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