Early runs hold up as Burnsville ace outduels Sauk Rapids’ in win

Bobcats ace Casey Jacobson’s sterling performance slightly topped Sauk Rapids pitcher Scott Geiger’s outstanding effort in leading Burnsville to victory.

Jacobson tossed a complete game to earn the win while Burnsville’s offense was able to put up three runs before Geiger became unhittable toward the game’s end.

“He’s been our best pitcher all year,” said Bobcats manager Robby Wiens regarding Jacobson, “even when he gets in trouble he never gets rattled and seems to get it done every time.”

Burnsville scored the game’s first run as Wiens was hit by a pitch to plate Matt Trocke in the first inning. Two innings later, the Bobcats clawed out two more runs as the bottom of the team’s lineup came through.

Roddy Hjort led of the fourth inning bouncing a grounder to short, but Cyclones shortstop Travis Cariveau’s throw took his first baseman off the bag allowing Hjort to reach safely.

Jeremy Chlan followed Hjort with a sharp single, putting two Bobcats on base with nobody out. Sauk Rapids’ Geiger - a draftee from St. Cloud Orthopedic who was the 2009 Class C State Tournament MVP - countered by nearly escaping the jam, getting Wiens to ground out and striking out Chad Eul. However, the bottom two batters of Burnsville’s lineup - Jacob Dahl and David Keeney - connected for back-to-back RBI singles.

Dahl, who is typically a pitcher and rarely bats, sliced a single to right off Geiger for the 2-0 lead before Keeney’s single made it 3-0.

“He hasn’t really swung much this year,” said manager Wiens, who’s roster was a bit thin that night, “but he showed up, we needed a DH, and he had a big hit for us.”

Sauk Rapids responded in the top of the fifth inning as Cariveau atoned for his gaffe with an RBI double to score Kyle Henkemyer for this team’s first run.

On the Cyclones mound, Geiger picked up steam as he pitched the remainder of the game, retiring 16 of his final 19 batters faced and finished the game with 11 strikeouts.

“Everything got sharper, his fastball, his breaking ball, he just got stronger as the game went along,” said Sauk Rapids catcher / manager Jon Nemec.

However, Geiger’s mid-to-late game dominance would not matter as the Cylclones collected several hits but could not push home another run.

The Sauk Rapids batters out-hit Burnsville 10 to 6, but Jacobson was able to work out of some troubles and hold his opponents to merely the one run.



Notable individual efforts:

Burnsville Bobcats
~ Casey Jacobson: CG, 9 IP, 1 ER, 10 Hs, 1 K, 1 BB
~ Charlie Dubanoski: 2-for-4
~ Jacob Dahl: 1-for-4, RBI
~ David Keeney: 1-for-4, RBI

Sauk Rapids Cyclones
~ Scott Geiger: CG, 9 IP, 3 ERs, 6 Hs, 11 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Kirk Henkemeyer: 4-for-4, 2 2Bs, R
~ Tyler Cariveau: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI

Jacobson, Bobcats bats lead Burnsville by Winsted

The Winsted Wildcats swept through their Section 8 playoffs and had ace pitcher Tony Kley on the mound versus the Burnsville Bobcats for its first ever Class B State Tournament game Sunday at Bird Island's Lions Memorial Park.

Furthermore, the Wildcats batters were able to touch up Burnsville ace Casey Jacobson for a six-hit, four-run inning. However, Jacobson regained his poise, and a mix of Wildcats erorrs and Bobcats hits led Burnsville to an 11-5 victory.

Jacobson, Burnsville’s 20-year-old ace, survived a four-run fourth inning to allow just three hits and one earned run the rest of the way in earning the complete-game win.

“He was tough on the mound, there’s no question about that,” said Winsted manager Aaron Shultz regarding Jacobson, “he’s a tough pitcher, but we did have five runs and 10 hits, ultimately it was our defense that let us down.”

Schultz’ ace, Kley - who entered the game with an 11-0 record and 0.79 ERA - faced 29 Burnsville batters in 5 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits and six runs, but only one run was earned as the Winsted defense commited five errors on the night.

The game began with Burnsville’s Scott Lindner blistering a Kley offering to right for a lead-off single. Kley temporarily escaped any trouble with a strikeout / throwout double play as he was able to get the next Bobcats batter, Matt Trocke, swinging and his catcher, Matt Wroge, pegged out Lindner at second.

But just as Kley seemingly completed the inning as Burnsville’s Charlie Dubanoski hit a grounder to short, Winsted shortstop Josh Anthony’s throw went awry and Dubanoski reached safely.

The Bobcats took advantage of the Wildcats gaffe as Roddy Hjort pulled a single to left and Jeremy Chlan ripped a two-run triple to right center. Chlan - who Burnsville drafted from the Elko Express for the tournament - came around to score as Anthony made another errant throw, this time on ground ball by Burnsville’s Robby Wiens.

Burnsville added another unearned run in the third inning before the Winsted offense was able to bat its whole lineup against Jacobson in the fourth.

Matt Wroge led off the the inning with a fly out to right but Winsted’s next batter - pitcher Joe Kley - was able to directly harm his counterpart by obliterating a Jacobson pitch an approximate 350 feet over the fence in left for a solo home run.

The Kley homer ignited the Wildcats offense as five of Winsted’s next six batters hit singles off Jacobson to score three more runs. Nine-hitter Curtis Herboshimer completed Winsted’s rally by extending his bat on a low, outside pitch to lift a single to right to drive in the game-tying run.

In the fifth inning, two Bobcats errors set up another scoring opportunity for Winsted. A single by Greg Kohler nearly tied the game but Bobcats leftfielder Lindner threw a pea to catcher Chlan to easily nail Kohler at the plate.

There were now two outs but the Wildcats were able to give their highly-visible fan base something to cheer about as the team’s next batter, Cullen Schultz, delivered a RBI-single to right to give Winsted its first lead of the game.

Winsted's lead was short-lived, however, as Burnsville responded with three hits and two runs in the top of the sixth inning.

The Bobcats picked up yet another unearned run in the seventh inning, but the game remained tight entering the game’s final frame.

Burnsville began the ninth inning up two runs but hoped to tack on some insurance runs. Winsted reliever Josh Anthony started the inning by retiring the Bobcats’ four- and five-hitters - Hjort and Chlan - on a grounder to second and a flyout.

The following Burnsville batter, Wiens, was able to work full-count walk off Anthony and that opened the door for four Bobcats runs. Chad Eul crushed a ball off the fence in right to drive in one run, but the big death blow came from nine-hitter David Keeney.

With two runners on, Keeney smacked a first-pitch offering from Anthony over the fence in left for a three-run homer.

“We knew it was their nine-hitter and threw him a get-me-over, first-pitch strike,” said Winsted skipper Schultz, “but lineups are too good one-through-nine at this level.”

“I could hear their coach saying ‘nine-hitter’ and that riled me up a little bit,” said Keeney of the at-bat, “[but] anytime [a pitcher] throws it right down the middle on the first pitch, I’m just trying to hit it as hard as I can.”

Keeney’s blast slammed the door on any chance Winsted had of a comeback as Burnsville’s lead increased to six.

Jacobson allowed a lead-off walk in the bottom of the ninth inning, but he retired the next three Winsted batters to finish off the Burnsville win. Following the game, Bobcats manager / centerfielder Wiens was very proud of his young hurler.

“Nothing new from him,” said Wiens of Jacobson, “he just goes out there and throws strikes. He had one bad inning but that’s like one bad inning over [his last] five starts.”

Wiens, Jacobson and the rest of the Bobcats advance to the second round of the State Tournament when the team will square off with the Sauk Rapids Cyclones this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Willmar.



Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats
~ Casey Jacobson: CG, W, 9 IP, 10 Hs, 5 Rs (2 ERs), 6 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Scott Lindner: 4-for-6, RBI, R
~ Jeremy Chlan: 2-for-4, 3B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 Rs, SB
~ David Keeney: 1-for-3, HR, 2 BBs, 3 RBI, R

Winsted Wildcats
~ Cullen Schultz: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, R
~ Joe Kley: 1-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 Rs
~ Curtis Herboshimer: 2-for-3, RBI

**Note: I was a reporter for this game, witnessing most of the game from the end of the Burnsville dugout. Photos of this game were difficult as the game began at 8:00 p.m. and, though the game was played under lights, the darkness does not bode well with my camera's limited abilities. The pictures used in this article are mostly pre-game and are displayed from top-to-bottom as follows - Pitcher Casey Jacobson warming up with catcher Jeremy Chlan, Winsted pitcher Joe Kley on the mound, a young fan showing her Winsted spirit, Burnsville players - Roddy Hjort, Charlie Dubanoski, Chad Eul and Matt Trocke - during pregame introductions.

Savage comes back against Burnsville, wins Section title

Cannon Valley League powers squared off last night for the Section 5B championship at Frederickson Field in Elko. But with tickets to the State Tournament already punched, the rival teams may have came out last night lacking a little punch.

“I was disappointed in the amount of fire we had early in the game,” remarked Savage skipper Travis Peterson, “but some hitting kind of cures that, we knocked a couple balls through holes, got some rallies going and were able to get guys up a little bit.”

Led by an early home run by designated hitter Ben Braaten, some strong pitching in the mid-to-late innings and a barrage of hits later in the ballgame, Peterson’s Outlaws were able to rally its way to a 7-4 victory over Burnsville to claim the Section title and earn a higher seed in the upcoming Class B State Tournament.

Savage will enter State as the Section 5 A seed, while the Burnsville (12-5 CVL, 17-9 overall) will enter the tournament as the B seed.

“It did lack a bit of intensity” said Roddy Hjort, Burnsville’s starting pitcher last night, about the game’s energy level, “not to say this game wasn’t important, but at the same time you already know you’re going to State.”

Not to mention Burnsville was coming off of two games the past two nights (including Wednesday night’s State Tournament berth-clinching win over Eagan) and were possibly a bit drained physically and emotionally, as well as short on pitching.

Hjort - usually the team’s second baseman - filled in for Bobcats manager Robby Wiens on the mound to start the game, despite having very little pitching experience. Hjort said he’s probably pitched about 10 innings over the last 15 years, but his team was in need last night.

“We knew we only had two [pitchers] ready to go tonight,” said Hjort following the game, “then Dan Mielke (one of the two pitchers) decided he couldn’t come because of work, and Robby gave me the thumbs up to go.”

Hjort did a respectable job - allowing two earned runs through four innings - and his Bobcats had the lead through much of the game. However, Savage’s Tyler Peterson came up with a pair of two-run hits to enable his brother - Tony Peterson - to earn the win as the Savage pitcher last night.

“When when got behind, [Tony] wasn’t too happy about it,” said Travis Peterson - the Outlaws manager and older brother of Tony - about Tony’s pitching effort, “[then] he switched into a different gear there and pitched a lot better the last half of his outing.”

Tony - Savage’s regular third baseman when not pitching - allowed three runs in the second inning after surrendering a home run to Burnsville’s Cory Eul, then had his team down 4-2 after the Bobcats added a run in the fourth. However, the burly righthander was able to work out of a key situation in the top of the sixth, and his team’s offense rewarded him in the bottom-half of the inning.

In the Burnsville’s top-half of the inning, Tony was able to get out of a one-out, two runners on jam by striking out Bobcats third baseman Zach Ryberg and retiring Eul for his first time in the game. Then, in the bottom of the inning, brother Tyler was able to drop a two-out hit into shallow right field to score two runs and give Savage a 5-4 lead.

Then, two innings later, Tyler came through again to add some key insurance runs for Savage.


Burnsville’s Trevor O’Shaughnessy was pitching for the Bobcats and Tyler came up with two outs and runners on first and second. The Outlaws shortstop battled through some tough pitches before finding one he liked and pounding it off the fence in deep straight-a-way center for a huge two-run double.

“[The count was] 3-2, he threw a couple good pitches that I fouled off,” said Tyler about his eighth-inning at-bat versus O’Shaughnessy, “[he] just left one up in the zone I could drive ... It got over [centerfielder Wiens’] head and it was a big hit.”

From there, Savage’s Danny Hansen and Brandon Walczak combined to close out the ninth to seal up the Section title. Next up, Savage will prepare to ship out to State.

The Outlaws will travel to Bird Island for its first game of the Class B State Tournament on Sunday, August 22 at 5:00 p.m. Burnsville will play its first game at State Sunday in Bird Island as well, scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time.

Both teams’ opponents have yet to be determined.

This year’s State Tournament is being hosted by Willmar, Bird Isand and Spicer, Minnesota. The games are to begin Friday, August 20 and conclude with the State Championship game on Monday, September 6.



Notable individual efforts:
Savage Outlaws
~ Tyler Peterson: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R, 4 RBI
~ Ben Braaten: 2-for-3, HR, BB, R, 2 RBI
~ Tony Peterson: 6 IP, W, 3 ERs, 4 Hs, 6 Ks, 2 BBs

Burnsville Bobcats:
~ Cory Eul: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
~ Roddy Hjort: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 Rs

**Note: I was a PA / reporter for this game. I was able to be on the field for the first two innings, taking photographs, then I PA'd the game from innings 3-9. After the game, I did four interviews and shot some pictures of three of the game's best players (though only one, Ben Braaten's, turned out). The photos featured in this story are - from top to bottom - Savage's Tyler Peterson greeting Ben Braaten after Braaten's 1st inning home run, Burnsville' Roddy Hjort delivering a pitch, Savage's Tony Peterson pitching - followed by post-article pics - Savage's Braaten, Burnsville's Cory Eul rounding third base on his round-tripper in the 2nd.

Trocke sets table, Dubanoski drives Burnsville to State

The Burnsville Bobcats offense was stymied through most last night’s Section 5B playoff game against Eagan’s Brandon Paetznick, except for its left side infielders that is.

“Trocke and Charlie, they were the only offense pretty much the whole game,” said Bobcats manager Robby Wiens, “they were the only ones hitting the ball, so you’ve got to be happy for them for doing that well.”

Shortstop Matt Trocke and third baseman Charlie Dubanoski’s offensive exploits led the Bobcats to a big 3-2 win over Paetznick’s Bandits at Frederickson Field in Elko and merits Burnsville (12-5 in league play, 17-8 overall) a trip to the Class B State Tournament next week.

Trocke set the table for Burnsville – getting on base with four
hits in four plate appearances – and Dubanoski drove in both the game-tying and game-winning runs with two big doubles.

The duo combined for six of Burnsville’s 10 hits on the night and backed outstanding relief pitching from Casey Jacobson, who earned the win last night.

“He’s been our stud all year,” said Dubanoski of 20-year-old Jacobson, “we all feel cool, calm and collected playing behind that kid.”

Trevor O’Shaughnessy started the game on the mound for Burnsville, but after the Bobcats got out to an early lead with a run in the first inning, the lanky lefthander surrendered a two-run homer to Eagan’s Derek Dietrich in the second.

“I’ve hit against O’Shaughessy a bunch and he usually throws a first pitch strike down the pipe,” said Dietrich of his second inning at-bat, “if he threw me a curveball, fine, I’m down 0-1, but I was sitting on that (fastball), knew it was coming , so [when it came] I had no choice but to hit it out.”

Dietrich’s home run gave the upstart Bandits (9-8 league, 16-16 overall) and manager / pitcher Brandon Paetznick the lead. The lead would last a little while, as Paetznick held a powerful Bobcats offense to one unearned run through the first four innings.

Then, with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and Eagan still up 2-1, Trocke doubled down the right field line and Dubanoski stepped up to the plate.

Down 3-0 in the count, Paetznick was able to deliver strike one. The next pitch seemed nearly a foot outside, but Paetznick was granted the strike call there as well. However, in hindsight, the Eagan pitcher may have preferred the umpire ruled it ball four as – two pitches later – Dubanoski drilled an outside fastball deep to right center to score Trocke for the tying run.

Paetznick was able to strand Dubanoski at second by getting Burnsville’s clean-up hitter, Roddy Hjort, to roll a grounder to second. Paetznick’s Bandits then responded to the Bobcats fifth-inning run by immediately establishing a threat in the top of the sixth.

Burnsville’s ace – Jacobson, who pitched a complete game against Elko on Sunday – relieved O’Shaughnessy to begin the inning and was greeted by a solid single from Eagan’s Roy Larson.

The Bandits next batter, first baseman Ryan Sward, drilled a 2-2 Jacobson pitch deep to right-center field, but, as Sward was prepared to pull up and possibly round second base, Bobcats centerfielder Wiens came up with a huge run-saving diving catch.

“That was a game changer,” said Paetznick of Wiens’ catch, “we would have had [at minimum] runners on second and third with no out and probably scored at least one or two runs that inning and taken the lead.”

Instead of Sward’s drive possibly igniting a big inning for Eagan, things fizzled out for the Bandits.

During the following at-bat, with Jacobson facing Eagan’s Mark Tatera, Larson was pegged out at second by Bobcats catcher Chad Eul attempting to steal. The failed attempt hurt the Bandits as Tatera delivered a single to left and Eagan would have had a second chance at a rally. But with two outs now, Jacobson was able to get Eagan’s next batter, Dave Clements, to ground out to third to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, with Eagan’s Paetznick still pitching, it was almost like a case of Déjà Vu. Just like the fifth inning, Paetznick retired the first two batters before Burnsville’s Trocke came to the plate. Also similar to the fifth, Trocke was able to get a hit – only this time it was an infield single to third. Then, sure enough, Dubanoski doubled again to score Trocke.

Another big Dubanoski hit, only this time the Bobcats slugger pulled the ball to left field and Trocke hustled in all the way from first.

”I saw that [the ball] got down the line [and] I was going no matter what,” said Trocke of his decision to round third and head home, “There were two outs and we needed the run badly, it was kind of do or die.”

With two perfect throws, Eagan may have had a play on Trocke, but third baseman Tatera could not cleanly handle the throw in from left and Trocke was able to cruise in with ease.

From there, the game would not end quietly as controversy ensued in the top of the eighth.

Eagan’s Tony Johnson was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Trent Anderson followed with a bunt attempt popped toward first base. Burnsville’s John Loeffler scooped up the ball on a short-hop and threw to second to force out the lead runner. However, the home plate umpire ruled it a catch and, after a brief argument from the Eagan managers, both Bandits base runners were called out.

“From the home umpire’s view, he thought it was caught, even though it wasn’t really close,” said Eagan manager Paetznick. “We argued a lot, and when you argue and [the umpires] are right you usually get tossed, so that shows you something right there.”

Jacobson followed the odd play and questionable call with a strikeout of Eagan’s Larson to end the eighth. Then, in the ninth, the hard-throwing righthander worked around a lead-off single by Sward with strike outs of Eagan’s Clements and Dietrich to end the game.

“Jacobson was throwing hard, he has a good curve,” said Dietrich, who struck out twice versus Jacobson after going 2-for-2 against O’Shaughnessy, “I wish [Burnsville] the best at state, we’ll get back at them next year.”

“He wanted to pitch the whole night and I wasn’t going to let him,” said Bobcats manager Wiens of his ace pitcher, Jacobson, who had pitched consecutive complete-game wins for Burnsville, “but when the guy’s been doing that good and wants to come in, I can’t say ‘no,’ and you saw what he did, he was just mowing them down.”

The loss brings Eagan’s 2010 season to an end. For Burnsville, the team’s quest in the State Tournament will begin in eight days, when the annual event is kicked off Friday, August 20 in Willmar and Bird Island.

Before heading to State, Wiens’ Bobcats will have a chance to exact revenge on their Cannon Valley League nemesis, the Savage Outlaws (who defeated Burnsville 3-2 on Monday), as the vaunted rivals play for the Section 5B championship and a higher State Tournament seed tonight at 7:30 in Elko.



Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats
~ Matt Trocke: 4-for-4, 2B, 3 Rs
~ Charlie Dubanoski: 2-for-4, 2 2Bs, 2 RBI
~ Casey Jacobson: W, 4 IP, 0 Rs, 3 Hs, () Ks, 0 BBs

Eagan Bandits
~ Derek Dietrich: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
~ Mark Tatera: 2-for-3, Sac Bunt, R
~ Brandon Paetznick: 7 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 9 Hs, 3 Ks, 1 BB

**Note: I was the PA for this game, thus the obstructed view for the game photos. I did, however, conduct post-game interviews and shoot pictures of three of the game’s best players (Burnsville's Charlie Dubanoski and Matt Trocke, Eagan's Derek Dietrich). The photos featured in this article are – from top to bottom – Burnsville’s Matt Trocke, Burnsville's Charlie Dubanoski, Eagan's Brandon Paetznick delivering a pitch to Burnsville's Robby Wiens, Paetznick pitching to Dubanoski, Eagan’s Derek Dietrich. Also, a picture of Burnsville's Casey Jacobson is shown next to the "Notable individual efforts" segment following the story.

Outlaws outlasts rival Bobcats for bid to State

Bitter rivals Burnsville and Savage battled out its third consecutive 3-2 thriller last night at Elko’s Frederickson Field.

The intense rivalry was magnified as the winner of last night’s game would earn a bid to the Class B State Tournament. And the winner ... by mere inches on a play at first to end the game ... was the Outlaws.

“I thought it was really close,” said Savage manager Travis Peterson about a bang-bang play at first base to end the game. “I thought he was out, I wanted him to be out, but if it was the right call? I don’t know, I’m not an ump.”

The play in reference was with two outs in the top of the ninth and Bobcats centerfielder Robby Wiens on third base. Burnsville’s David Keeney, one of its speediest runners, hit a grounder to third, substitute Savage infielder Dusty Otto handled the roller and fired to first to end the game - but not without controversy.

The call at first was immediately followed by severe scrutiny from several Burnsville team members and its fan base (many of whom were sitting in bleachers behind the fence near first base).

On the flip side, Savage’s Peterson was quick to credit his back-up infielder’s effort on that play.

“To go into a game ice cold and have a ball hit your way in that situation, that’s tough,” remarked the Savage skipper.

Mere minutes after the game, Burnsville manager Robby Wiens - obviously frustrated over the call - refused to comment on the play. His few remaining Bobcats teammates followed suit.

With the win, Peterson’s Outlaws (13-4 league record, 31-8 overall) earned a repeat trip to the Class B State Tournament, where last year they finished in 5th place.

Peterson credits Savage’s consecutive Section 5B playoff wins - last night and Sunday afternoon’s 3-2 win over Eagan (which combined have clinched them a spot in State) to his team’s strong pitching and defense.

“Phenomenal defense,” said Peterson following last night’s game, “we said before the [playoffs] started that it comes down to pitching and defense, we picked two really good games to play really good defense.”

Travis Pugliese pitched a complete game shutout Sunday versus Eagan. Savage played error-less defense in both games, including a key play by centerfielder Dylan Peterson in the top of the eighth inning last night.

“Dylan made a phenomenal catch,” remarked manager Peterson about his younger brother’s fence-crashing grab to rob Burnsville’s Charlie Dubanoski of an extra-base hit to lead off the eighth.

“If that ball were six feet over the wall, I think he was going to go right through it to try and catch it,” further exclaimed manager Peterson. “We needed that, that’s a game-changer right there.”

Dylan Peterson’s play enforced the Outlaws 3-2 lead that would eventually be sealed up by Savage relievers Brandon Walczak and Tony Peterson.

Outlaws starter Ben Turnwall merits a lot of the credit as well.

The burly righthander allowed a second-inning homerun to Burnsville’s Cory Eul that tied the game; however, Turnwall would settle in afterward and pitch well enough to earn the win.

In the second, after a walk to Bobcats first baseman John Loeffler, Eul turned on a 2-0 fastball and planted it beyond the fence in left-center.

From there, Turnwall struck out Burnsville’s Keeney as the first of eight consecutive Bobcats batters he would retire. Turnwall finished his night allowing just the two runs through six innings of work.

Savage’s Tayler Rahm helped back Turnwall’s outing in the bottom of the sixth with a clutch two-out single to left off Burnsville reliever Adam Emery.

“I was down 0-2, so that’s never good,” said Rahm describing the at-bat, “I worked it back to 2-2 and was actually looking for a fastball, (but) it was a change-up, I was a little out in front but I got enough of the barrel on it to put it out there to left.”

The hit scored a hustling Dylan Peterson from second as Bobcats leftfielder Cory Eul’s throw sailed wide to the right of his brother Chad Eul (Burnsville’s catcher).

Rahm’s RBI would stand as the game-winner as Savage pitchers Walczak and Tony Peterson combined for three very strong innings to finish the game.

Turnwall was awarded the win, Walczak posted three strikeouts in two perfect innings of work for the hold, and Peterson (who played the first eight innings at third base) worked around a lead-off walk to pick up the save.

“[Turnwall] pitched a really good game” said manager Peterson, “he threw strikes and made [Burnsville] swing the bats, exactly what we needed out of him.”

“I credit catcher Ben Braaten, I didn’t shake him off the whole game,” said Turnwall, praising the pitch calling of his receiver.

The hefty hurler was decently content with his outing and is very happy his team clinched a berth in the State Tournament. However, Turnwall also admitted to feeling a bit tight and nervous early on, and he feels he can definitely do better.

“I think all-around it was a great game for our whole team,” said the 23-year-old Burnsville native, “[But] personally, I can pitch better. I had to settle the butterflies down a bit, but we’ll get them [out of the way] at State.”

Savage will ride its ticket to the State Tournament in 10 days, when the annual event begins in Willmar and Bird Island August 20, but the Outlaws will also play for the Section 5B championship on Thursday night.

Peterson’s team could once again be facing their vaunted rivals (Burnsville) for the Section title.

The rivalry would be renewed once again as these two teams finished first and second in the Cannon Valley League this season, share the same home field, and have played three consecutive hotly contested 3-2 games - Burnsville defeated Savage by that score in their previous two meetings (July 22 and 29).

To get to Thursday, and having another shot at Savage, Wiens’ Bobcats will first have to overcome their frustration and defeat either Eagan or Elko tomorrow night.

Upset-minded Eagan (9-8 CVL, 15-15 overall) faces the 2008 Class C champion Express (8-4 CVL, 31-8 overall) tonight, with the winner advancing to face Burnsville. The winner of that game - tomorrow night’s - will also earn a trip to State.



Notable individual efforts:
Savage Outlaws
~ Ben Turnwall: W, 6 IP, 2 ERs, 5 Hs, 8 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Taylor Rahm: 2-for-5, R, RBI (GM-WINNER)
~ Brandon Walczak: 2 IP, 0 Rs, 0 Hs, HOLD
~ Tony Peterson: SV, 1 IP, 0 Rs, 0 Hs

Burnsville Bobcats
~ Cory Eul: 1-for-3, BB, R, HR, 2 RBI

**Note: I was a roving reporter for this game. I took score, made notes and shot several photos throughout the game. I also conducted three postgame interviews and shot photos two of the game's best players - Savage's Ben Turnwall and Tayler Rahm. The pictures featured in this article are - from top to bottom - pre-game manager's meeting (Savage's Peterson, Burnsville's Wiens, with the umpires and CVL commissioner Doug Johnson), Burnsville's #22 Cory Eul touching home plate after his home run in the 2nd inning, Savage's Tayler Rahm on third base (w/ Burnsville 3B Charlie Dubanoski behind him), Savage's Ben Turnwall delivering a pitch in the 2nd inning, post-game photos of Turnwall and Rahm.

Burnsville’s Jacobson, WIens derail Express in Elko

Elko had its hometown fans riveted early, but Burnsville’s Casey Jacobson slammed the brakes on the Express offense en route to a 7-2 Bobcats win.

“Casey’s had it figured out the whole year,” said Burnsville manager Robby Wiens regarding Jacobson’s effort, “throwing complete games in this league when it’s 100 degrees out, nothing compares to that.”

According to AccuWeather.com, the official temperature did not hit 100 degrees, but Wiens was virtually correct with his assertion as RealFeel (which is the accredited weather website’s equivalent to heat index) was charted between 98 and 101 degrees throughout the game.

Besides the scorching heat, Jacobson was also dealing with a 31-7 Elko team he was facing for his first time, and the game was on the Express’ home turf.

Jacobson succeeded the test pitching the whole nine innings for the Bobcats, striking out five Express batters and limiting the host team to just two runs.

His complete-game effort was important for the Bobcats as not only does the win (a second round Section 5B playoff win) give them an opportunity to earn a bid to the Class B State Tournament tonight, but Jacobson was also able to conserve his fellow Burnsville arms for tonight and possibly two or three more games this week.

“We don’t want to burn up a lot of pitchers,” said Bobcats skipper Wiens, “we’ve got to play tomorrow and maybe another game or two, so for him to out and there do that, saving our arms, that was big.”

“He did a nice job,” said Elko manager Terry Frederickson in regards to Jacobson. “he kept throwing right at us, and [Burnsville] played good defense, and that’s what it takes [to win].”

The Bobcats played spotless defense while two Elko errors led to three unearned runs for Frederickson’s squad. Two of those three runs were scored on a hit by Frederickson’s counterpart, Wiens, who was key cog offensively for the Bobcats last night.

“We couldn’t get him out,” remarked Frederickson.

Wiens was 3-for-3 with four RBI on the night, including a clutch two-run hit late in game.

The game began with Jacobson allowing back-to-back doubles to Elko’s Jeremy Chlan and Corey Grisim. However, Grisim was thrown out at third base as the Burnsville defense executed two perfect throws from its rightfielder and shortstop.

Down 1-0, the Bobcats offense responded quickly in the bottom of the first (note: Despite the game being played in Elko, Burnsville was the home team due to having a higher playoff seed).

Scott Lindner led off with a walk, Matt Trocke followed with a bloop single near the foul line in right. Two batters later, Roddy Hjort singled to left to load the bases with one out.

The next Bobcats batter, John Loeffler, worked a walk off Elko starter Glenn Parker to tie the game. Wiens followed with a hit to score Trocke and give Burnsville the lead. Then, the back breaker came as Bocats catcher Chad Eul sent a six-hopper up the middle that was able to scoot by Elko’s shortstop and second baseman for a two-run single.

“I think both of them could have had it,” said Frederickson about his infielders - second baseman Kyle Kalina and shortstop Chlan - on Eul’s seeing eye single, “but they both looked at each other like ‘who’s getting that one.’”

Up 4-1, Jacobson battled through the next three innings - allowing three hits, two walks and a hit batter - as Elko picked up a run to get the score within two; however, the Burnsville ace was able to settle in after conquering a key at-bat in the top of the fifth.

With Elko hoping to rally against Jacobson, Express two-hole hitter Grisim led off the inning and had a 3-0 count.

“That was a key count for me, I was thinking ‘you can’t walk the leadoff hitter, they score about 75% of the time, so I’ve got to give my defense a chance to help me out,’” said Jacobson of the at-bat versus Grisim, “ [On] 3-0 I just went down the middle and hoped he wasn’t swinging, then I was able to hit a couple of my spots and got him to pop it up, that was big.”

After Grisim popped to short, Jacobson was able to retire the next two Elko hitters as well for a clean fifth. Finding his groove, Jacobson proceeded to pitch a clean sixth as well.

Then, with Burnsville up 5-2, Wiens came through with a two-out single down the third base line in the seventh scoring Charlie Dubanoski and Hjort to put the game out of reach.

“Luckily [Elko’s third baseman] was playing a bit off the line and I snuck one by him,” said Wiens of his hit.

Jacobson followed with two more shutout innings to seal up the win for the two-seeded Bobcats (12-5 in Cannon Valley League play, 16-7 overall) and set up a big game tonight versus their bitter rivals - the Cannon Valley League regular season champion Savage Outlaws (13-4 CVL, 30-8 overall).

The winner of tonight’s game earns a spot in the Class B State Tournament (which begins August 20 at Willmar and Bird Island).

2008 Class C champion Elko will need to win its next game - tomorrow night versus Eagan - to prevent its season from coming to a sudden halt.



Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats
~ Casey Jacobson: 9 IP, CG, W, 2 ERs, 8 Hs, 5 Ks, 3 BBs
~ Robby Wiens: 3-for-3, 4 RBI, Sac Fly
~ Roddy Hjort: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 Rs
~ Chad Eul: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, HBP

Elko Express
~ Jeremy Chlan: 2-for-3, 2B, 3B, R, BB
~ Dan Ellefson: 2-for-4, RBI

**Note: I was the scoreboard operator for this game. I wasn’t able to take many game photos, but I interviewed three people and took pictures of two of the game’s best players (Burnsville’s Casey Jacobson and Robby Wiens) afterward. However, the Wiens shot did not turn out well - I’m working to find a replacement photo as he should be pictured in this article after playing a key role for Burnsville offensively. The photos seen is this article are - from top to bottom - Burnsville's Casey Jacobson, Burnsville's Roddy Hjort facing Elko pitcher Glenn Parker, Burnsville's Hjort and Charlie Dubanoski after scoring on Wiens' 7th-inning single.

After screwy start, Emery nails down Bobcats win in relief

Cannon Valley League powers, the Burnsville Bobcats, posted three unearned runs early, then struggled briefly before prevailing over winless Inver Grove Heights last night to cinch up a spot in the second round of the Section 5B amateur baseball playoffs.

Burnsville was down 4-3 early, but in came pitcher Adam Emery to quash any hopes the Diamond Kings had of pulling off the upset. After Emery stifled IGH’s offense, striking out eight consecutive DK bats at one point, the Bobcats bats began to pick up steam with a four-run fifth that led them to eventually win the game with ease (implementing the 10-rule rule, winning 14-4 after eight innings).

“That was a pretty good streak,” said Burnsville manager Robby Wiens of Emery’s ability to elude IGH bats for eight straight Ks, “nobody was even touching it.”

The game featured a wacky second inning in which an infield pop-up spelled doom for the Diamond Kings and control issues from Bobcats pitcher Scott Eul led to four IGH runs without the benefit of a hit.

With Inver Grove as the home team at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park - this being the second game of a playoff series in which Burnsville played as the home team for game one - Diamond Kings starting pitcher Chris Vanderheisen was looking to get his team out of a one-out, runners on first and second situation.

A scoreless game, following a single and hit batsman Luke Hellquist was up for Burnsville. Vanderheiden was able to get the Bobcats designated hitter to fly to center for the second out. Then, the next at-bat was when the wackiness began.

On a full-count pitch, David Keeney sent a light pop-up behind the mound tailing to the left side of the infield. On a play where Inver Grove’s shortstop or third baseman were in better position to make the catch, pitcher Vanderheiden had to find his balance with the mound while attempting to make the grab. However, the ball fell off his glove and onto the ground for an error to allow Burnsville to take the lead.

The next Bobcats batter, leftfielder Scott Lindner, singled to right to score two more runs and Burnsville seized a 3-0 lead.

Another odd occurrence happened with the next batter as Matt Trocke lifted a routine fly ball to right and Inver Grove outfielder Ben Briesacher dropped a proverbial can of corn. However, Vanderheiden was able to get the next Bobcats batter out and Briesacher's error would not cost the Diamond Kings any runs.

The IGH offense responded in the bottom of the inning as Burnsville’s Eul could not find the plate.

After a groundout by Inver Grove’s Briesacher to begin the inning, IGH first baseman Jake Keefer was plunked by Eul and the following five Diamond Kings batters would reach base as well.

Eul had allowed six straight Inver Grove batters to reach base without allowing a hit - surrendering four walks and two hit batters.

Then Emery entered the game.

With bases loaded and one out, the Bobcats reliever was able to induce his first batter, IGH’s Aaron Stokke, into a ground ball to second for an apparent inning-ending double play. However, Burnsville second baseman Roddy Hjort bobbled the ball and the Bobcats could only get one out as the Diamond Kings’ Kent Anderson scored the go-ahead run.

Down 4-3 now with two runners on, Inver Grove’s burly three-hitter, Alex LaShomb, came up to the plate. However, LaShomb would not have a chance to add to IGH’s lead as Emery picked up his club by picking off Stokke at first to end the long and eerie second inning without incurring any further damage.

Burnsville tied the score in the top of the third, then LaShomb drew a walk to begin the bottom of the inning. From there, Emery took control, retiring his next eight batters - all on strikeouts.

“I just wanted to throw strikes after [Eul] was struggling,” said Emery in regards to his performance, “I knew that my stuff could get [the ball] over the plate, so I was just trying to get the job done.”

A bright spot offensively for Inver Grove came in the fifth as LaShomb finally ended Emery’s rein by singling to right with two outs.

“I knew that he was their best hitter,” said Emery of LaShomb’s at-bat, “I tried to do the same thing I did with the other hitters (mixing fastballs with curves and off-speed stuff). I threw him a couple fastballs and a couple change-ups, he hit a change-up low and away, there was nothing I could do about it, he’s a good hitter.”

“I think I got kind of lucky,” said LaShomb of the hit, which broke Emery’s strikeout streak, “I was sitting on something off-speed because I had put a good swing on one of his fastballs, and then he came with that change-up and I just hit it out to right field.”

LaShomb’s hit was only Inver Grove’s second of the game, and its would also be their last.

Up 11-4 entering the eighth inning, Burnsville put the final kibosh on the Diamond Kings by scoring three in the top half of the frame and pitching a 1-2-3 bottom to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule.

Burnsville’s victory advances them to the second round of the playoffs, which will begin for them with a 2:00 p.m. game versus the Elko Express this Sunday in Elko. For the Diamond Kings, the loss brings an end to the second season of Inver Grove Heights baseball.



Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats
~ Adam Emery: 3.2 IP, 0 Rs, 1 H, 8 Ks, 1 BB
~ Scott Lindner: 3-for-4, 2 Rs, 2 RBI, 2 SBs
~ Roddy Hjort: 3-for-4, BB, 2 Rs, RBI

Inver Grove Heights Diamond Kings
~ Alex LaShomb: 1-for-3, 1B, BB

**Note: I was the PA for this game. While doing the PA, I also took score and made notes, then conducted interviews afterward. Also, I did shoot some game photos, but could not get great shots from inside a press box behind the backstop. I did, however, also take postgame photos of two of the game’s best players (Burnsville’s Adam Emery, Inver Grove’s Alex LaShomb). The photos featured in this article are - from top to bottom - Burnsville’s Adam Emery striking out IGH’s Jake Keefer in the 3rd, Adam Emery, Alex LaShomb.

Mighty Casey on the mound, leads Bobcats to victory

Minutes before the Burnsville Bobcats began its game with its nemesis - the Savage Outlaws - manager Robby Wiens was asked about his pitching plan for the game considering his staff was a bit short-handed and the playoffs are coming soon.

“We got Casey [Jacobson] going again today, he threw really well and beat [Savage] last time, so we’ll see what he has today,” said Wiens of his Bobcats starter, Casey Jacobson.

After throwing 7-plus innings in a 3-2 Bobcats win over Savage last Thursday, the Bobcats ace pitched all nine in another dramatic 3-2 win over his team’s arch rival last night at Burnsville's Alimagnet Park.

Jacobson held an outstanding Outlaws offense to two runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batsmen.

“I give Chad [Eul] a lot of credit for the pitch calling,” said Jacobson, quick to deflect any individual praise to his catcher, Chad Eul, as well as his teammates on defense. “Chad was making a lot of good calls, keeping [Savage] off-balance, [and] I got really good defense tonight, which is always a key for me because I don’t normally strike a lot of guys out.”

Besides calling a good game, Eul also pegged out a couple Savage runners at second and came up with a big hit for Burnsville.

With the Bobcats trailing 2-0, Brandon Walczak relieved Savage starter Travis Pugliese on the mound to begin the seventh inning. After retiring John Loeffler on a grounder to first, Eul came to the plate and delivered a double to left-center.

The hit seemed to spark the Burnsville offense after Pugliese had shutout the Bobcats and held them to four hits with no walks through six innings.

Walczak was able to strike out the next batter, leftfielder Luke Hellquist, on three pitches, but Cory Eul (Chad’s brother) followed with a chopper to third that led to an errant throw and allowed Chad to score Burnsville’s first run.

In the eighth, the Bobcats began another rally as lead-off hitter Scott Lindner’s jersey was brushed by a pitch from new Savage reliever Danny Hanson. Next up was Matt Trocke, who laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to get Lindner into scoring position.

With the tying run at second, Burnsville’s Charlie Dubanoski stepped up to the plate.

The Bobcats dugout cheered on their third baseman as Hanson delivered a 1-1 pitch. Dubanoski then thrilled his teammates and the home crowd as he belted the pitch deep to right field that looked like a possible homer but fell in front of the fence for an RBI-double.

Hanson would evade allowing Dubanoski to score the go-ahead run by getting Chad Eul to hit a harmless fly to right for the third out, but Dubanoski's deep drive to the warning track was damaging nonetheless.

“Should hit the weight room a bit more,” deadpanned Dubanoski as he returned to the dugout.

In the top of the ninth, Jacobson threw an efficient eight-pitch inning and his Bobcat teammates returned to the bench determined to get him a complete game victory.

The third Savage pitcher in three innings, Ryan Rodeck was on the rubber for the Outlaws to start the ninth inning.
The righthander retired his first batter, Hellquist, on a grounder to third, but the next couple Burnsville batters were a bit more troublesome.

Rodeck walked Corey Eul on a full-count pitch that missed low, then he lost the following batter, Erik Fabry, on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt.

With two runners on and no outs, Rodeck rebounded by getting Bobcats’ lead-off batter, Lindner, to bounce a chopper back to the mound. Rodeck threw to second to get the first out, however, the speedy Lindner was able to beat Savage shortstop Tyler Peterson’s relay throw to first to prevent the double play.

Burnsville’s Trocke was next for Rodeck and the at-bat would be quite a battle.

Drawing the count full, Trocke fought off two Rodeck offerings to stay alive, then, on the eighth pitch, the Bobcats shortstop pounded a grounder to the left that found the hole and allowed Lindner to cross home for the game-winning run.


“That was key for us,” said winning pitcher Jacobson of Trocke’s hit. “We came out last night [versus Rosemount] and didn’t perform as well, [but] we came out tonight with a lot of fire and had a very good game. And to see someone (Trocke) who comes to the yard every day and plays hard and works his butt off help us get the W, that was great.”

Trocke’s single sewed up both a Bobcats win and a two-seed for the Cannon Valley League playoffs, which are to begin Sunday. Following its 9-6 home loss to Rosemount on Wednesday, Burnsville needed the win against Savage for the two-seed rather than the three.

While in some ways last night’s Bobcats / Outlaws game was not necessarily of as huge importance as it could have been, Savage manager Travis Peterson acknowledged the game’s significance for Burnsville’s playoff situation.
If Burnsville had defeated Rosemount as well as Savage, they would have stolen the No. 1 seed (which gets a bye through the first round of the CVL playoffs) from Savage. They weren't able to do that, but the Bobcats win did net them the 2-seed, which means they’ll play the winless seven-seed Inver Grove Heights Diamond Kings instead of the Lakeville Athletics (who defeated Eagan Wednesday to finish 5-12 in CVL play).

Moreover, Savage skipper Peterson would have liked to have won the game because of the intense rivalry his Outlaws share with Burnsville.

“We wanted to win that one,” said Peterson, minutes after last night’s loss. “It’s a tough one to take, but I told the guys there’s no more moral victories now. We’ve got to get the win, especially in the playoffs ... The season could be over in two games and we don’t want that, we want to be playing for awhile.”



As the number one seed, Savage (13-4 CVL, 29-8 overall) earned a first round bye and will begin its league playoffs on August 8 when they’ll face the lowest seed of the four remaining teams. Peterson’s Outlaws are hoping to do well in their CVL post-season, then make another run at the State title. Last summer Savage played all the way to September 5, when they lost 4-1 to Hastings to finish fifth in the Class B state baseball tournament.

Wien’s Bobcats (12-5 CVL, 13-7 overall) will hope to have another chance at Savage in the CVL playoffs, but they will first begin its postseason against Inver Grove this Sunday at 4:30 on Alimagnet Park’s field 2.



Notable individual efforts:
Savage Outlaws
~ Travis Pugliese: 6 IP, 0 Rs, 4 Hs, 2 Ks, 0 BBs
~ Zach Harazin: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI

Burnsville Bobcats:
~ Casey Jacobson: CG, 9 IP, 2 ERs, 8 Hs, 1 K, 2 BBs
~ Scott Lindner: 2-for-4, 2B, HBP, R, SB

** Note: I covered this game as a reporter, conducting interviews and also taking my own photos. The photos featured in this article are of - from top to bottom - Burnsville's Casey Jacobson, Savage's Travis Pugliese pitching to Burnsville's Luke Helquist, Jacobson pitching, and managers Robby Wiens (Burnsville) and Travis Peterson (Savage).

Impending doom washed big game off the books

The weather forecasts warned the south suburban area of thunderstorms tonight, but at around 7:30 at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park all was clear for baseball.
An important game between Cannon Valley League powers Savage and Burnsville was to take place and did ... for about 50 minutes.

The top-ranked Outlaws (28-7, 12-3 CVL) trailed their second-ranked rival Bobcats (12-6, 10-4 CVL) by a 5-4 score as Burnsville’s Luke Hellquist grounded out to third base to end the third inning.

As Burnsville players took to the field for the top of the fourth, the home plate umpire called for Bobcats manager Robby Wiens. After a brief discussion Wiens told his club that the umps were calling for a delay and requested his players to tarp up the mound and home plate area.
Winds were swirling a bit and clouds were emitting a murky sense of impending doom, but the conditions were still dry and storm-free. Wiens explained that the head umpire thought there was a storm coming through but that it would pass through after 30-40 minutes and then the game could conclude the game afterward.

So instead of playing before the storm, players from both teams took to the field to chat about softball leagues and how the Twins crushed Zack Greinke and the Royals last night. The Outlaws and Bobcats were granted quite a bit of social time as the weather held up quite decently for about 30-40 minutes. Then the first drop of rain came and seconds later it began to pour.

Inevitably, roughly ten minutes later, the game was called.

CVL rules demand that 4 1/2 innings must be played to make it official. At the pace the game was going, that may have been possible. But it didn’t happen and thus the statistics from tonight will be washed out of the books and the game will be played anew this Thursday at the same time (7:30) on the same field (Alimagnet).

The game will be of high importance as Savage is up 1.5 games in the standings on Burnsville with just the one league game left to play. The Bobcats have two CVL games on its remaining schedule.

Savage would have sewn up the No. 1 seed in the CVL playoffs with a win, but now may not need to beat the Bobcats on Thursday. Burnsville must defeat Rosemount at Alimagnet Park tomorrow night, then beat Savage.

If the Bobcats succeed in their final two games, both them and Savage would have identical 12-4 league records, but Burnsville would take over the No. 1 seed by virtue of winning the head-to-head contests with Savage 2-1 (Savage defeated Burnsville 14-4 on May 26, Burnsville beat Savage 3-2 on July 22).

The CVL playoffs are set to begin this Sunday at Alimagnet Park.

Hjort blasts a bomb and three doubles as Bobcats beat Athletics

The Burnsville Bobcats appear to have picked up steam after their 3-2 win over Cannon Valley League-leading Savage on Thursday night.

On a sun-soaked afternoon at Lakeville South High School yesterday, the Bobcats hammered the host Athletics by a 10-1 score.

Second baseman Roddy Hjort went 4-for-4 with a home run, three doubles, four runs and four RBI while Trevor O’Shaughessy went the distance on the mound for Burnsville, who improved to 13-6 overall and 11-4 in the Cannon Valley.

Lakeville - who defeated Northfield 9-1 the night before - stumbled to 4-11 in the CVL and 8-14 overall.

Ace pitcher Jake Hauck started the game for Lakeville, but it would be a rough day for the righthander as Burnsville struck early.

Scott Lindner led off the first with a walk, then stole second. Matt Trocke followed with a bunt single that Hauck fielded but threw wildly toward first. Lindner came around to score on the play as just two batters into the game Burnsville drew first blood.

With Trocke on second, Hjort drove a 0-1 Hauck offering deep to left. The line drive dented the left field fence just a foot or two shy of a homer as Hjort pulled up at second for an RBI double.

Hauck was able to strand Hjort to keep the score at 2-0 after the first inning, then he pitched a perfect second before the Bobcats’ bats got to him again in the third.

Trocke led off with a single to right and up came Hjort. Down 2-0 in the count, Hauck fought back with two strikes to even the count. Hjort stayed alive by fighting off two tough pitches for fouls. Then, after a ball loaded the count, Hjort socked a line drive deep to left-center to score Trocke for a 3-0 Bobcats lead.

Down 4-0, Lakeville looked as if it had a possible threat in the fourth. Jon Gaylord began the inning with a routine grounder to short, but the Athletics were given a break as Burnsville shortstop Trocke sailed a throw high past his first baseman. However, the brief threat was quickly stymied as the next batter hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

Burnsville added a run in the fifth, then really padded its lead in the sixth as Hjort came up to face Hauck for the fourth time.

With Hjort having bashed doubles in each of his first three at-bats, Hauck seemed determined to retire the Bobcats slugger this time. It was not to be, however, as Hjort blasted deep shot well above leftfielder Eric Watts’ head for a two-run homer to give his team an 8-0 advantage.

As Hjort delivered the offensive damage, Burnsville’s pitcher, O’Shaughnessy, was blanking the Lakeville bats through five. Then, in the sixth, the Athletics would finally break through against Burnsville’s lanky lefthander.

Lakeville’s speedy shortstop, Derek Jacobson, led off the inning by smashing a line drive double off O’Shaughnessy. Burnsville leftfielder Eric Fabry quickly got to the ball and fired to second, but Jacobson was able to pull up unscathed. Three batters later, Trent Larson’s fly ball to right would score Lakeville’s spunky shortstop for their team’s first run.

Derek Hahn followed Larson’s sacrifice with a single, but O’Shaughnessy regained control from there, retiring seven of the next eight Athletics batters.

Burnsville tacked on a pair of runs in the eighth. With Derek Hahn pitching, Trocke drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Then, after Hahn walked Hjort, Bobcats manager / first baseman, Robby Wiens, crushed a double just to the right of centerfielder Jon Gaylord to score Hjort and raise Burnsville’s run total to ten.

The Athletics mounted another brief threat in the ninth as Derek Hahn came up with his second hit of the game and Justin Hahn followed with a double two batters later. However, with one out and the Hahns occupying second and third, Watts hit a tapper to the pitcher for the second out, then O’Shaughnessy struck out Will Walsh to conclude his complete game effort.

Burnsville's next game will be against the Rosemount Black Sox on its home field at Alimagnet Park. Lakeville will hope to bounce back from the loss when it hosts the Eagan Bandits today at 5:00 p.m. at Lakeville South High School.


Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats

~ Roddy Hjort: 4-for-4, HR, 3 2Bs, BB, 4 Rs, 4 RBI
~ Trevor O’Shaughnessy: CG, 9 IP, 1 ER, 9 H, 4 Ks, 0 BBs
~ Matt Trocke: 3-for-4, 3 Rs, 2 RBI
~ Scott Lindner: 2-for-4, BB, 3 SBs, 3 Rs
~ Robby Wiens: 2-for-5, 2 2Bs, RBI

Lakeville Athletics
~ Derek Jacobson: 3-for-4, 2 2Bs, R
~ Derek Hahn: 2-for-4, OBE, SB
~ Trent Larson: 0-for-3 w/ Sac Fly but he was tremendous defensively at third base - errorless for the game w/ three outstanding plays in particular.
5th inning, 1 out, runner on second - Larson charged in on a Luke Hellquist chopper and gunned over first for the out.
5th inning, 2 outs, runner on first - Larson made a diving stab of a hard Zach Ryberg grounder and fired a pea to first to nail him by a step.
9th inning, 2 out, runner on first - Larson, the Gold Glover of the day, picked up his pitcher - Derek Hahn - as a dribbler bounced through Hahn’s legs but Trent came over, gobbled up the ball and quickly threw to first to retire the batter.

**Note: I was the PA for this game, thus was unable to take nice game photos - being stuck in a press box behind the backstop - but I did take some photos of the game’s star players (Roddy Hjort, Trevor O'Shaughnessy and Derek Jacobson) afterward. No interviews were made as my primary focus was as a PA not reporter.

Eul's clutch single leads Bobcats over Outlaws

An intense rivalry took place tonight as the Cannon Valley League’s top two teams faced up at Alimagnet Park in Burnsville tonight.

The league-leading Savage Outlaws hosted the second-placed Burnsville Bobcats in a tightly contested battle. Pitching and defense sparkled throughout until a late Burnsville hit sparked a Bobcats victory.

Burnsville’s Casey Jacobson pitched hard into the eighth inning before catcher Chad Eul delivered a clutch bases-loaded single to right in the ninth.

“Whenever you get a starting pitcher to go that long into a game and only allow two runs, that’s great,” said Burnsville manager Robby Wiens, following his team’s 3-2 win. “Then, to have our catcher, Chad, get that two-RBI single, that was all we needed for the win.”

Savage led 2-1 entering the ninth before Eul singled in two runs to give Burnsville the lead. From there, Bobcats closer Dan Mielke came in and sealed the deal by retiring the Outlaws in order to end the game.

Burnsville improved to 11-6 overall and 10-4 in Cannon Valley League play, while the loss dropped Savage to 26-6 overall and 10-3 in the CVL.

“We’ve got to execute a little bit better, not getting bunts down, leaving guys on base, hitting in the clutch, that changed the game right there,” said Savage manager Travis Peterson. “We swung the bats alright, just not in the clutch.”

In all, Savage tallied two runs on nine hits. Meanwhile, Burnsville was able to push in three runs on seven hits - including three hits in both the third and ninth innings.

Peterson was very happy with the pitching of his brother, Tony Peterson, who pitched out of the bullpen for Savage earlier this season but was making only his second start of the season tonight. And the hefty 6-foot-4-inch right-hander delivered, posting seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits and no walks in seven innings.

“My arm felt pretty good tonight,” said Tony Peterson, regarding his performance, “I carried it out to the mound, got it going out there, and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there on out.”

Despite his performance, as with his manager brother, Tony was also a bit frustrated with the final outcome.

“We didn’t play good enough to win,” said Tony. “We had our chances but couldn’t make the most of them, [Burnsville] had theirs and they did.”

Savage had one of its prime scoring chances in the second, when Ben Braaten and John Means led off the inning with back-to-back singles. However, the rally was quickly stymied due to a lack of execution and a terrific defensive play.

The Outlaws’ Dylan Peterson failed on two bunt attempts, then shot an 0-2 delivery to right field. Bobcats rightfielder David Keeney scurried to his left to make the catch, then fired a perfect, one-hop pellet to nail Braaten at third base for a double play.

In the top of the third, Burnsville scored the first run as shortstop Matt Trocke roped a two-out single to left to drive in Keeney.

Savage would immediately fight back by scoring the tying run in the bottom of the third, but the Outlaws’ damage was mitigated by some outstanding defense from Bobcats leftfielder Scott Lindner.

With a runner on third and one out, Savage’s Tayler Rahm drove a pitch deep to left field but Lindner made a fantastic running catch just as he neared the fence. A run scored on the sacrifice fly, but that would be all as Lindner followed that catch up with another great play.

Following the deep Rahm drive, Savage’s Tony Peterson drew a full-count walk and Ben Braaten came to the plate. Braaten bashed a Jacobson pitch deep to left. This one sailed over Lindner to the fence, but the Burnsville outfielder chased the ball down, threw a pea to shortstop Trocke, who then gunned down Peterson at the plate to end the inning.

From there, neither pitchers allowed a hit until Rahm broke through for Savage with a single in the sixth and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice to put the Outlaws up 2-1.

Peterson looked like he was in cruise control on the mound, but he took the field at a different position in the eighth inning as he played third base and reliever Travis Pugliese came in to pitch.

Pugliese pitched a harmless eighth, but Burnsville would rally off him in the ninth as two singles and a hit batsman led to Eul’s big hit.

Mielke pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to save his own win.

Starter Jacobson allowed a lead-off single to Tony Peterson in the eighth before Manager Wiems came out to pull his hurler. Jacobsen would exit the game to a nice applause from the Bobcat faithful as Mielke took over on the mound.

The 24-year-old Mielke issued a walk to his first batter to put runners at first and second, but he quickly recovered by retiring six straight Savage hitters to close out the game.