Elko vet pitchers school Lakeville bats, lead Express to second round

Like a fine bottle of wine, baseball players also tend to get better with age.

Last night, Elko veteran pitchers Brian Muell and Rob Brick demonstrated their wisdom and craftiness as they led the Express to a 7-3 win over the Lakeville Athletics at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park.

“I threw the ball well early and felt pretty good,” said 34-year-old Muell, who pitched a shutout through five innings last night. “The older I get, the less velocity I have so I use my other stuff, [but] the curveball’s my best pitch anyway.”

Muell’s slow, but hard-breaking curve had Lakeville batters off-balance for much of the night. The Athletics strung some hits together against him in the sixth, but overall Muell threw 7 1/3 strong innings before Elko’s 35-year-old reliever - Brick - came in to close things out in the eighth and ninth.

The win sealed up a trip home for the Express this weekend when the second round of the Section 5B playoffs are played at Elko’s Frederickson Field.

For Lakeville, the loss last night - following Sunday night’s 3-2 loss to Elko - means the team was swept in its best-of-three playoff series against the Express and its season is over.

“We were prepared for this,” said Athletics manager Doug Johnson following the loss, “Elko’s tough, we always play good games with them, but they’re better than us right now.”

“Elko’s a really good team,” added Lakeville third baseman Jim Gaylord, “I think they’re going to go pretty far in the playoffs, they’re pretty tough competitors.”

Jim and his brother, Jon Gaylord, did their share of damage last night, in helping Lakeville not go down without a fight, but, most of their Athletics teammates had difficulties hitting Muell and Brick’s pitching.

The game started with Jake Hauck pitching for Lakeville and pitching very well. Hauck made it through the fourth inning having only allowed a pair of singles while striking out Elko’s 2-3-4 hitters his first time through the Express lineup.

However, in the fifth inning, a two-out single by Elko’s nine-hitter, Corey Grisim, led to a meltdown on the mound for Hauck.

Express lead-off hitter Jeremy Chlan followed up Grisim’s single with a double to left-center to put runners at second and third.

Then, still with two outs and a scoreless tie, the same 2-3-4 hitters Hauck struck out earlier were able to hit the Lakeville starter pretty hard this time.

Elko second baseman Kyle Kalina hit single to right to score two, Dylan Thomas creamed a triple to the right-center gap to drive in Kalina, and Jason Grimm laced a solid single to right to score Thomas.

“[Hauck] just got a little tired out there and left a couple of sliders up,” said Johnson of his starting pitcher. “We’re trying to get that nine-guy (Grisim), then they’ve got about three or four hitters in the middle of thier lineup that we have trouble against.”

After Express five-hitter Ash Larsen delivered the key two-run blow with a double in the eighth inning to beat Lakeville on Sunday night, it was the three hitters in front of Larsen who wreaked havoc against Johnson’s Athletics last night.

Elko’s Kalina, Thomas and Grimm combined for 5 hits in 10 at-bats - reaching base 10 times - with 3 runs scored, 3 stolen bases and 5 RBI.

The Express followed up its four runs in the fifth by adding two more in the top of the sixth innning to run its lead to 6-0.

But Lakeville’s Gaylord brothers responded in the bottom of the sixth as the Athletics attempted to creep back into the game.

After a Derek Jacobson single to begin the inning, Jim Gaylord lined a double down the left field line. Jon followed his brother with a solid single to left to score Jacobson, but, on Muell’s very next pitch he was able to induce a double play from Lakeville clean-up hitter Derek Hahn to stymie the Athletics threat as the bases were suddenly empty with two outs.

Jim Gaylord scored from third on the Hahn grounder but Johnson would have liked to have seen his team score a couple more runs there.

“We could’ve used one more good hit that inning,” remarked the Lakeville skipper, “try to get it to 6-to-4 and then it’s a game.”

The Gaylords struck again in the eighth as Jim slashed a single to right, which chased Muell from the game, and Jon hit a sacrifice fly to left off reliever Brick, but that would be all for Lakeville as Brick struck out three of the final five Athletics hitters to preserve Elko’s victory.

Lakeville will take the rest of the summer off and try to regroup for its 2011 campaign while Elko will likely face the Burnsville Bobcats in the second round of the playoffs Sunday at 5:00 p.m.



Notable individual efforts:
ELKO EXPRESS
~ Brian Muell: W, 7.1 IP, 6 Hs, 3 ERs, 6 Ks, 1 BB
~ Rob Brick: 1.2 IP, 0 Rs, 0 Hs, 3 Ks, 1 BB
~ Kyle Kalina: 1-for-2, 2 Rs, 2 RBI, 2 BBs, HBP, SB
~ Dylan Thomas: 2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI, BB, SB
~ Jason Grimm: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, HBP, SB

LAKEVILLE ATHLETICS
~ Jim Gaylord: 2-for-4, 2B, R
~ Jon Gaylord: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB, Sac Fly

**Note: I was the PA for this game and took very few game photos. However, I did conduct postgame interviews and take photos of three of the game’s best players (Brain Muell, Jim and Jon Gaylord). The pictures featured in this story are - from top to bottom - Brian Muell, Corey Grisim high fiving Jeremy Chlan after Kyle Kalina’s two-run single, Jim and Jon Gaylord. The original photo of Grisim and Kalina was shot by Savage Outlaws pitcher / infielder Tony Peterson, the final cut seen in this article is after I cropped the photo by centering it and zooming in.

At plate, on mound, Thomas leads Elko in eking out playoff win

Elko’s Dylan Thomas baffled the Lakeville Athletics bats through six innings but the Express starter was in line for the loss after seven.

However, Thomas’ bat, a ground ball double, and a key clout by teammate Ash Larsen helped the 3-seed Express edge 6th-seeded Lakeville 3-2 on opening day of the Section 5B amateur baseball playoffs last night.

“Dylan looked really good tonight,” said Elko manager Terry Frederickson of his starting pitcher's performance, “he got a little tired in the seventh, but [overall] he did a really nice job.”

Thomas was doing a very nice job, in fact, he had a no-hitter through six innings. Lakeville was finally able to get to Thomas (on the mound) in the seventh, however, the Lakeville native (graduate of Lakeville North High School) helped beat his hometown with his bat as well.

With his team in a scoreless tie after Thomas’ opposing starter - Lakeville’s Trent Larson - tossed a shutout through five innings as well, the 6-foot righthander led off the Elko sixth by blistering an 0-1 Larson offering to deep right-center for a triple.

“He hung me a curveball the first time and I watched it go because I was sitting fastball,” said Thomas about that at-bat, “but [he] threw the same exact thing in the same spot [and] you don’t do that in baseball. I just took the ball the other way and we scored, so that was great for us.”

Thomas scored on the very next pitch as Express first baseman Jason Grimm smacked the first pitch he saw from Larson to the left-center gap for an RBI-double.

Larson evaded further damage by getting a flyout and a pair of rollers to strand Grimm at second. Then, in the seventh, Lakeville responded by breaking through offensively.

Athletics catcher Derek Hahn was plunked by Thomas to begin the inning and Larson followed by sacrificing Hahn to second with a bunt.

The next Lakeville batter, Josh Storm, stroked a single to center to end Thomas’ no-hit bid. Hahn did not score on the play, however, and Thomas was able to get his next batter, Mark Berger, down in an 0-2 hole.

Berger drew the count full, fouled back three more pitches, then took a fastball for a called ball four to load up the bases.

Brent Johnson, Lakeville’s eight-hitter, followed up Berger’s quality at-bat by slicing an 0-2 Thomas pitch to right-center that scored both Hahn and a hustling Storm on a close play at the plate.

Suddenly, the Athletics went from having no hits to having a 2-1 lead.

Lakeville gained momentum as Larson retired Elko in order in the bottom of the seventh and the Athletics offense looked like it would pad its lead in the eighth.

Elko's Josh Roiger relieved Thomas and was able to get the Athletics’ Jim Gaylord to bounce out to short to begin the inning. But, the next three Lakeville hitters would reach as Jim’s brother, Jon Gaylord, smacked a liner to left for a single, Hahn grounded a single to right, and Larson drew a walk.

However, the Athletics could not push in a run as Roiger was able to get Storm on a soft fly to left and then strike out pinch-hitter Justin Hahn to end the threat.

Coming up unsuccessful in that situation was possibly a bad omen for Lakeville as Larson took the mound in the bottom of the eighth.

Thomas led off for the Express by reaching base for his fourth straight time as Lakeville third baseman Berger fielded a grounder by Thomas but was unable to make an accurate throw to first to retire him.

Then, an even more ominous play occurred as Elko’s Grimm chopped a grounder that took an unusually high bounce by Athletics first baseman Storm and sputtered into shallow right field. The ball was perfectly place as the ball trickled toward the line and Grimm was able to reach second base for a ground ball double.

Sure enough, after the first two Elko batters reached without hitting the ball very well, the next batter - centerfielder Ash Larsen - shelled Larson for a double to deep left that easily scored both Thomas and Grimm.

The Express bench rose in excitement as Elko had regained the lead - a one-run advantage that would soon prove enough to win the game.

“It was very unfortunate for [Lakeville],” said winning manager Frederickson regarding the Grimm chopper that led to Larsen's game-winner, “that ball took a hell of a bounce.”

Lakeville's Larson would be lifted after the hit by Elko's Larsen, but the Athletics hurler had a nice night overall and kept his team in the game - scattering seven hits and allowing two earned runs through seven-plus innings of work.

"I just tried to keep the ball low and tried keeping them off-balance," said Larson, regarding his performance. "Unfortunately the last inning there I hung a curve ball and he (Ash Larsen) hit it for a double, that's the way it goes sometimes."

Larson's reliever, Derek Jacobson, came in and mowed down the next three Express batters on consecutive strikeouts, which was good for Lakeville but also perhaps even more frustrating considering how the two Elko batters before Larsen reached.

At the moment, however, Jacobson’s sterling effort kept up his team's hope alive as Lakeville was only down one entering the ninth. But, the Athletics offense could not muster much hope against Roiger in the ninth as Elko held on to earn the win.

The two teams will meet again tonight as they continue to battle out its best-of-three first round playoff series. The game will take place on Alimagnet’s field 2 at 7:30 p.m. with lower-seeded Lakeville playing as the home team this time.



Notable individual efforts:

Elko Express:
~ Dylan Thomas: 7 IP, 2 ERs, 2 Hs, 9 Ks, 2 BBs / 2-for-3, 3B, 2B, BB, 2 Rs
~ Jason Grimm: 2-for-4, 2 2Bs, R, RBI
~ Ash Larsen: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Lakeville Athletics:
~ Trent Larson: 7 IP, 3 Rs (2 ERs), 7 Hs, 2 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Brent Johnson: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
~ Derek Hahn: 1-for-3, HBP, R, SB

**Note: I was the PA for this game, but also took photographs and conducted post-game interviews. I shot some photos from the press box, but also took photos of two of the game's best players on the field afterward. The photos featured in this article are - from top to bottom - Dylan Thomas, Josh Storm sliding in safely at home plate, Elko bench congratulating Thomas and Jason Grimm, and Trent Larson (right).


Other CVL opening night playoff action

The 2-seeded Burnsville Bobcats clobbered 7th-seed Inver Grove Heights 11-0 in seven innings.

The 5-seed Eagan Bandits led 4th-seed Rosemount 10-0 through five innings.

Section 5B Playoffs - seedings, match-ups and preview

The Section 5B amateur baseball playoffs (featuring Elko - of the DRS - and the six Cannon Valley League teams) begin this Sunday at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park with the seedings as follows:

1-seed: Savage Outlaws
2-seed: Burnsville Bobcats
3-seed: Elko Express
4-seed: Rosemount Black Sox
5-seed: Eagan Bandits
6-seed: Lakeville Athletics
7-seed: Inver Grove Heights Diamond Kings

The top-seeded Outlaws (13-4 CVL, 29-8 overall) have earned a bye past the first round and thus will not play until Sunday, August 8.The first round will be played from Sunday through Tuesday (Wednesday, if necessary) at Alimagnet on either Field 1 or 2.

Here are the match-ups:

Sunday, Aug. 1
TIME FIELD VISITING TEAM HOME TEAM
4:30 p.m. 2 #7 IGH vs. #2 Burnsville
6:00 p.m. 1 #6 Lakeville vs. #3 Elko
7:30 p.m. 2 #5 Eagan vs. #4 Rosemount

Monday, Aug. 2
TIME FIELD VISITING TEAM HOME TEAM
7:30 p.m. 2 #3 Elko vs. #6 Lakeville
7:30 p.m. 1 #5 Eagan vs. #4 Rosemount

Tuesday, Aug. 3
TIME FIELD VISITING TEAM HOME TEAM
7:30 p.m. 1 #2 Burnsville vs. #7 IGH

Wednesday, Aug. 4
TIME FIELD VISITING TEAM HOME TEAM
7:30 p.m. TBD TBD vs. TBD

Each first-round match-up will be a best-of-three series. If a series goes to three games, the third will be played 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Alimagnet. However, if all three series happen to go to three games, a second site will be determined on Tuesday.

The second round of the playoffs will be played at Frederickson Field in Elko from Sunday, Aug. 8 through Thursday, Aug. 12.

Playoff Preview:

Savage will undoubtedly be the favorites. The Outlaws are battle tested, having played 37 games this season, and are coming off a 2009 season that lasted into early September and a 5th place finish in the Class B State Tournament.

Manager Travis Peterson has a plethora of pitching talent, as well as a potent offense, on his Savage team roster.

Burnsville could easily offer them a battle, however, as Savage’s bitter rival finished their Cannon Valley schedule with a solid 12-5 record and beat the Outlaws two games to one in their head-to-head match-ups.
While Savage and Burnsville are certainly the top to powers of the CVL, any of the four mid-tier teams could definitely rise up and challenge them.

Elko actually would have nipped the Bobcats for the 2-seed were it not for Burnsville’s big 3-2 win over Savage on Thursday night. However, at 8-4 against CVL teams, Elko has not played CVL competition as much as Burnsville and Savage and that experience may give those teams an edge. Although, the Express have been able to beat both the Bobcats and Outlaws one time apiece this season and are certainly worthy adversaries.

Following Elko is Rosemount and Eagan, at 10-7 and 9-8, respectively, in CVL action this season.

The Black Sox had a rough patch toward the end of its season - losing five of six games from June 27 through July 16 - but rebounded to win two of its last three games, including a 9-6 win at Burnsville.

Eagan had been getting hot toward the end of its season, winning road games at Rosemount and Lakeville on July 24 and 26, but the Bandits fell in its final CVL home game against the Athletics - losing 3-2.

Conversely, the win for Lakeville at Eagan may have given the team new life. The six-seed Athletics had an encouraging 9-1 non-conference win at Northfield on July 21, but fell in their following two home games (10-1 and 7-2 losses to league foes Burnsville and Eagan). So, as they now enter the playoffs on a key win, don’t sleep on the Athletics as their season finale win at Goat Hill Park has their confidence on high.Finally, the seventh-seeded IGH Diamond Kings. The second-year squad has had a difficult season but found some signs of team pride in its gutty effort at Savage on July 26. Yes, the Outlaws eventually won 11-4, but the DKs fought tough throughout and actually out-hit Savage 6-5 entering the eighth inning. Considering they suffered losses by 23 and 18 runs to Savage earlier this season, their effort on Monday was a step in the right direction for a young team growing and developing with one another.

A lot of opportunities, dreams, and hopes will be on the line as some highly competitive baseball takes place this week in the 2010 Section 5B playoffs.

Six teams begin their post-season journey on Sunday as the Bobcats and Diamond Kings start things off with a scheduled first pitch of 4:30 p.m. on Alimagnet's Field 2.

Let’s hope for some good weather, great baseball, and ... may the best team win.

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).

Lakeville battery powers Athletics to victory

An unexpected pitcher and his catcher performed like a well-charged battery last night for the Lakeville Athletics at Eagan’s Goat Hill Park.

Utility player Mark Berger threw five strong innings in relief and brawny backstop Derek Hahn homered as the Athletics eked out a dramatic 3-2 win over the host Bandits.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve pitched,” remarked Berger after the game, “but it was definitely one of the better outings I've had so it felt good to be out there and do that.”

Behind the pitching of Berger and starter Trevor Larson, the Lakeville bats could not get much going offensively early on. Eagan’s starting pitcher, Jon Hansen, did not surrender a hit until the fifth.

The game was tightly fought as the score was tied at 2-2 entering the ninth, where two walks and a single set up the Athletics for a zany play at home for the game-winning run.

The first inning started with Hansen opposing Larson on the mound and both pitchers had their stuff working.

Hansen and Larson each tossed a quick first inning, then Eagan’s Ryan Sward led off the top of the second - yes, that is correct, top of the second (this game, though at Eagan, was technically a Lakeville home game as it was a make-up for a rain out on June 5, see below article for further explanation) - with a rocket to left over leftfielder Eric Watts’ right shoulder for a double.

Sward would be stranded, however, as Larson would get Eagan’s 4-5-6 batters on a flyout and two strikeouts to end the Bandits’ second frame.

In the third, Larson retired the first two Eagan batters but the Bandits’ Jon Bauer drew a four-pitch walk and would eventually score the game’s first run.

Tony Johnson followed Bauer’s walk with a chopper to Athletics shortstop Derek Jacobson, which Jacobson scooped up cleanly but delivered a low throw that scooted by first baseman Justin Hahn for an error. Bauer advanced to third on the play and he’d later score on a stolen base attempt.

With two outs and Eagan’s Roy Larson at the plate, Johnson took off for second but Athletics pitcher Larson stepped off the mound and threw to second baseman Jim Gaylord. However, as Johnson slid in at second at the same moment Gaylord tried to catch it and swipe him, the ball kicked away from Gaylord's glove and the ump ruled the Eagan base-runner safe for a stolen base. Meanwhile, Bauer easily advanced from third to crossed home plate and put the Bandits ahead.

In the top of the fourth was when Berger was called upon to replace Trent Larson as Larson’s performance was abbreviated to conserve his arm for the upcoming playoffs. And despite having not pitched since June 6 not only did Berger accept the task but the crafty righthander handled it with guile and fortitude.

Berger allowed a lead-off single to Sward, who lined a low strike to left, but the Athletics’ super-utility man would settle into a groove after that. Berger - who has played six positions this season and all nine throughout his Lakeville career -induced a double-play ball from the next hitter, Tatera, then proceeded to retire six straight Bandit batters.

Meanwhile, after Eagan's pitcher, Hansen, retired his pitching counterpart, Berger, on a tapper back to the mound to end the fourth, Hansen had been equally - if not more - impressive than Berger as he was perfect through four innings.

In the top of the fifth, Berger would have some adversity to face - albeit to little of his own fault. A one-out broken bat single by Eagan's Derek Dietrich was followed by two errors from the Lakeville infield to put Berger in a one-out bases loaded bind.

However, the tenth-year Athletics player rose to the challenge as Berger was able to get Johnson to bounce into a third-to-catcher force out, then retire Eagan’s dangerous three-hole hitter, Roy Larson, on a flyout to center to escape the inning unscathed.

In the sixth, the Lakeville offense finally broke through against Hansen.

Hansen had finished five innings allowing just one hit and facing the minimum, but Lakeville’s Justin Hahn led off the sixth by slamming a 2-0 fastball deep to right center, just out of the reach of right fielder Dietrich’s outstretched glove.

Eric Watts followed with a sacrifice bunt, then nine-hitter John Degerness delivered the Athletics’ first run with a shallow fly to right that landed about a foot inside the foul line.

Hansen would get Lakeville’s Jacobson to hit into a fielder’s choice, then retired Jim Gaylord on a one-hopper back to him on the mound to end the inning, but the Degerness RBI-hit tied the score at one run apiece.

In the seventh, Hansen was lifted for similar reasons that Lakeville Larson was relieved for as Bandits reliever Tom Jaede took to the mound.

Jaede was able to retire Jon Gaylord on a hard liner to left, but the new Eagan pitcher was not as fortunate against Lakeville’s next batter, clean-up hitter Derek Hahn.

Hahn, Lakeville’s towering catcher, pounded a 2-2 offering from Jaede on to the parking lot pavement deep past the right field fence.

“I was down 0-2 and think [Jaede] was feeling pretty good, but I was still really confident,” said the 6-foot-4-inch Hahn about his home run at-bat, “I was able to get a pitch I could handle and knocked it out of the park.”

Hahn’s blast traveled an estimated 360 feet and put Lakeville ahead by one.

The lead would not last long, however, as Eagan’s Bauer led off the top of the eighth with double to right-center. He then scored two batters later on a double by Roy Larson.

With the score tied at two late into the game, this was when Berger (still pitching) really dug deep and persevered for his team out there on the mound.

Already having thrown far more pitches he anticipated, next up for Berger was Eagan’s clean-up hitter, Sward, who pounded two big doubles in Eagan’s 7-2 win at Lakeville this past Sunday.

The Bandits slugger was coming to the the plate with teammate Larson on second and one out. This time, however, Sward could not come through as Berger was able to get him to swing under a pitch and hit a harmless flyout to left field.

Berger then walked Tatera, but was able to get Brandon Paetznick to hit a ground ball to third to end the Eagan threat.

The score remained tied entering the bottom of the ninth when Lakeville’s Derek Jacobson took a 3-1 pitch from Jaede high to draw a lead-off walk.

Jim Gaylord followed with a sacrifice bunt to set up brother Jon Gaylord with the winning run in scoring position.

Jon hit a sharp grounder toward the hole in short that looked like it had a chance to get through but would be fielded successfully by Eagan’s Roy Larson. Gaylord’s hit was good for an infield single, however, and the Athletics threat continued to grow.

With runners on first and third, Jaede intentionally walked Derek Hahn, to load up the bases for Lakeville’s Trent Larson.

On a 2-1 count, Jaede delivered a fastball that apparently was a tad high in the home umpire’s eyes as it was called for a ball. Then, on 3-1, Larson laced a line drive medium-depth to right field.

While Jacobson tagged up from third, Eagan’s rightfielder, Dietrich, delivered a strong throw toward home. The ball was slightly off to catcher Tatera’s right but the throw had beat Jacobson; however, anticipating the collision, Tatera could not cleanly catch the ball and Jacobson managed to score ... barely.

The Athletics sliding-inept All-Star slid wide to the right and actually missed home plate, but Jacobson did recover in time to get up and touch home for the game-winning run.

“That was less than graceful,” said Berger, who was on-deck at the time, describing his scrappy teammate’s slide, “definitely no style point on that one.”

“It was quite a slide by Jacobson,” added Athletics assistant manager Tim Watts with a light chuckle, “I got that one on Kodak film so I’ll have to take a look at it again later tonight.”

The Athletics won the game and Jacobson actually not only scored the winning run but earned the win as a pitcher - facing five batters in throwing as scoreless top of the ninth.

But it was Berger who was the prime pitching star for Lakeville, throwing a season-high 64 pitches and frustrating Bandits batters by with enticing pitches.

“Most guys salivate when they get [to face] him on the mound,” said Eagan manager Billy Denet about his hitters batting against Berger, “I think that was part of our problem. I’m not trying to take anything away from him but but that ball looked pretty big up there and [he’d] get a lot of guys out in front and popping the ball up and rolling it over and he got outs, that’s what your supposed to do.”

“Berg did an outstanding job tonight,” remarked Watts, who was filling in for head skipper Doug Johnson, “he throws that good off-speed stuff and that’s what kept [Eagan] off balance.”
The loss dropped Eagan to 8-8 in Cannon Valley League games and 12-14 overall, while the win improved Lakeville to 5-12 in CVL play (9-15 overall) and gives them hope heading into the playoffs.

“It was definitely a big win,” said Berger, one of team’s elder statesmen, “it’s important to get some good momentum heading into the playoffs.”

Next up for Eagan will be a 7:30 contest tonight at Inver Grove Heights to conclude its regular season schedule. Berger’s Athletics have finished league play and will now prepare for their first game of the CVL playoffs, a 6:00 p.m. contest Sunday night versus the Elko Express.

The first CVL playoff game will be Sunday at 4:30 p.m. when the 2-seed Burnsville Bobcats play the 7th-seeded IGH Diamond Kings. All first round playoff games will be played from Sunday through Wednesday at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park.



Notable individual efforts:
Lakeville Athletics
~ Mark Berger: 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 1 BB
~ Derek Hahn: 2-for-3, HR, IBB, R, RBI
~ Trent Larson: 3 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB, game-winning Sac Fly

Eagan Wildcats:
~ Jon Hansen: 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hs, 2 Ks, 0 BBs
~ Ryan Sward: 2-for-4, 2B
~ Jon Bauer: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 Rs

** Note: game was played at Eagan a June 5 Eagan @ Lakeville game was rained out and re-scheduled for last night. Lakeville has no lights on its home field, thus it was easier to schedule the make-up game at Eagan.

**Note: I covered this game as a reporter but only took photos after the game. Pictured in the photos - from top to bottom - are Lakeville's Mark Berger, Eagan's Jon Hansen and Lakeville's Derek Hahn. Also, thanks to Tim Watts, who provided the Lakeville team photo (which was shot after the Athletics shook hands with Eagan following the win).

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.

IGH fought hard but Braaten, Outlaws prevail in end

The winless Inver Grove Heights Diamond Kings laced up their cleats and prepared to face the league-leading Savage Outlaws last night.

The result? IGH lost 11-4. But, it was still a step forward for the second year club, according to manager Jon Wulff.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said Wulff, who’s team lost to Savage by scores of 19-1 and 24-1 earlier this season. “We’re all young guys and were getting better every game and developing ... it’s a good sign to be playing the best team in the league and to hang with them for five-six innings, that’s big for us.”

Savage, who along with Burnsville is a Cannon Valley League powerhouse, was in control early - leading 7-0 after three innings - but Wulff’s gutsy club put up four runs in the top of the fifth and actually out-hit the Outlaws late into the game.

Hefty righthander Roy Gutzman made the start on the mound for the Diamond Kings and had some control issues.

Gutzman allowed three walks in the first inning, the first of which was to Savage’s lead-off batter, Tyler Peterson. Two batters later, Outlaws catcher Ben Braaten did not take a free pass to first.

Instead, Braaten crushed a first pitch fastball from Gutzman for a no-doubter home run that cleared the right field fence by a good 10 feet.

“I just went up there and had my game plan, if the [pitch] is where I want it, I’m going to put a good swing on it,” said Braaten, who had three hits on the night, “I was able to put a nice power stroke on it and ended up getting it up and out of here.”

Inver Grove was able to escape the first inning only down the two runs, but things unraveled more in the second.

Dylan Peterson drew a five-pitch walk from Gutzman to begin the second. The Diamond Kings hurler was then able to get Zach King to fly out to center, but that would be the last Savage batter he would retire.

Following King’s flyout, Gutzman allowed his fifth walk of the night, then hit a Savage batter. With the bases loaded and one out, Braaten came to the plate. Gutzman threw a wild pitch to allow Savage’s third run, then walked Braaten to reload the bases.

This was the last straw for Gutzman as manager Wulff pulled his starting pitcher in favor of reliever Chris Vanderheiden.

The line on Gutzman? Not pretty. In 1 1/3 innings pitched, the Diamond Kings SP allowed 4 earned runs on just one hit - Gutzman had the hit batsmen and issued six walks.

Wulff’s reliever, Vanderheiden, was immediately knocked around by the Savage bats but would eventually settle in nicely for IGH.

Vanderheiden’s first batter, Tony Peterson, hit line drive to right for a sacrifice fly, then Savage’s John Means bashed an RBI-double. Evan Walker followed Means’ hit with the Outlaws’ fourth walk of the inning to load the bases again. However, Vanderheiden was able to escape further damage by getting Zach Harazin to line out to right on a 3-2 pitch.

The next inning Savage brought out the lumber again as King knocked a triple to the left-center gap and Tyler Peterson socked a Vanderheiden pitch over the fence in left for a two-run homer.

Down 7-0, it seemed like the Savage attack would only escalate from this point, but Vanderheiden would retire the next eight Outlaw batters and the IGH offense responded with four runs in the fifth.

Ben Briesacher began the Diamond Kings fifth with a soft, looping pop-up to short that inexplicably fell in front of shortstop Tyler Peterson for a lead-off single. The next IGH hitter dribbled a grounder toward third baseman Tony Peterson and he couldn’t find the handle on it as the runner was able to reach safely.

Inver Grove took advantage of the defensive complacency from Savage by scoring its first run when Briesacher crossed home plate on a sharp single to left by Justin Mikel. The Mikel hit was technically the third IGH hit, but was really the first solid hit surrendered by Savage starter John Pohl.

Three batters later, Diamond Kings third baseman Jeremy Bade came up with the biggest IGH hit of the night. Down 0-2 in the count, Bade smacked a Pohl pitch down the third base line for a two-run single to make the score 7-3.

“I was just trying to fight it off and stay alive,” said Bade describing the hit, “then I got a hold of it, wasn’t too hot before that but came through toward the end.”

Bade’s team added one more run to narrow the gap to three runs and suddenly turn a possible Outlaws romp into a tight tussle.

Frustration mounted for Savage in the bottom of the fifth as the offense had been stymied. Harazin and Dylan Peterson each flew out before King was called out on a questionable call for strike three to end the inning. An argument ensued and King was tossed out of the game.

The Outlaws would tally a run in the sixth inning, however, as Braaten nailed an RBI-double to left center to make the score 8-4.

IGH was able to chase starter Pohl from the game as reliever Brandon Walczak began the seventh on the mound for Savage. Walczak immediately unleashed a couple pitches nowhere near the plate against his first batter, Aaron Stokke, but the flamethrowing lefty regrouped to get Stokke on a check-swing for strike three.

Walczak then struck out Inver Grove’s Jake Keefer and later got Dan Lojovich flailing on a curveball for his third strikeout of the inning.

In the eighth, Savage inevitably put the game out of reach. Another RBI double by Braaten chased Vanderheiden out of the game, then IGH’s third pitcher - Justin Mikel - was greeted abruptly by Tony Peterson.

Peterson hammered the first pitch he saw, sending a laser shot to left-center that cleared the fence by mere inches. The ball was probably never more than 15-20 feet off the ground and traveled from home plate to the fence in about 1 1/2 seconds.


“It’s a good thing that ball went over, otherwise it probably would of put a hole through that fence,” remarked one unnamed witness from his perch near the visiting team’s dugout.

The Peterson homer put the final damage on Inver Grove as Savage took an 11-4 lead and went on to win by that score.

Despite the loss, IGH manager Wulff saw a couple bright spots in Vanderheiden and Bade.

“[Bade] has been one of our solid points [this year],” said Wulff, regarding his third baseman, who played sterling defense and connected for two of Inver Grove’s six hits. “He did a solid job in the field and with the stick.”


Wulff also commended Vanderheiden for his efforts - the relief pitcher threw 5 1/3 innings against a very tough Savage offense.

“Vandy said he only wanted to throw one inning, but it turned out to be five or six, so that’s good to see,” said Wulff. “He did a good job out of relief and hopefully we’ll get him a start soon.”

That start would have to be in the playoffs as the loss to Savage finished Inver Grove Heights regular season schedule.

Savage (12-3 CVL, 28-7 overall), has its hands full this week before the CVL playoffs begin on Sunday. The Outlaws play one final league game tonight against Burnsville, then travel to Green Isle and Rochester on Wednesday and Thursday.



Notable individual efforts:

Savage Outlaws
~ Ben Braaten - 3-for-4, HR, 2 2Bs, 4 RBI
~ Tony Peterson - 1-for-4, HR, Sac Fly, 3 RBI
~ Tyler Peterson - 1-for3, HR, 2 BBs, 3 Rs, 2 RBI

IGH Diamond Kings
~ Jeremy Bade - 2-for-4, 2 1Bs, 2 RBI

**I covered this game as a reporter, taking game photos and conducting three post-game interviews. The pictures used throughout the article are - from top to bottom - IGH manager Jon Wulff after pitching conference with SP Roy Gutzman, Savage's Dylan Peterson scoring a run after a wild pitch, Savage SP John Pohl, IGH's Chris Vanderheiden pitching to Savage's Ben Braaten.