Posted: 5/8/02

Rangers entering pivotal stretch

Berk Brown
Sports Editor

Forest Lake has fallen from the unbeaten ranks, but not from the top spot in the Suburban East Conference.

After starting the season 6-0 and 5-0 in the SEC, Forest Lake, ranked No. 3 in AAA by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has lost two of its past three games.

At 7-2 and 6-2, Forest Lake is still tied for first in the SEC as it enters the second time through the conference. Besides playing with a target on its chest the second time through, Forest Lake also will compete in the New Ulm Tournament this weekend.

Besides the host school being home to Forest Lake coach Brian Raabe, New Ulm also has one of the top teams in the state and the tournament comes during a stretch in which the Rangers have nine games scheduled in 13 days.

ìWeíre just going to go out there and do our best and see what happens,î Raabe said of the next two weeks.

Forest Lake wasnít at its best on Monday in a 4-3 loss to Mounds View. After beating the Mustangs and their ace Andy Peters 7-1 in the conference opener, Peters and Mounds View got revenge against the Rangers.

Peters struck out 11 and limited Forest Lake to five hits.

Although he said Peters pitched better Monday than he did when the teams first met, Raabe said Peters didnít deserve all the credit for his teamís lack of offensive production.

ìUntil we decide weíre going to swing at strikes instead of balls, weíre going to struggle with our hitting,î Raabe said.

Luke Hagman had a two-run single in the top of the seventh inning to cut Mounds Viewís lead to 4-3, but the Rangers were unable to complete the rally.

Forest Lakeís Chris Parent took the loss on the mound. It was a loss he didnít deserve, Raabe said.

ìHe pitched well enough to win,î he said. ìThere is no way we should have lost.î

Parent allowed just three hits and three walks over seven innings. Two of the four runs he allowed came via a dropped ball in the outfield.

Forest Lakeís first loss of the season came on Wednesday, May 1, when Woodbury took an 8-0 victory over the Rangers at Schumacher Field.

Forest Lake rebounded with an 8-4 win over White Bear Lake on Friday. Alex Johnson got the win in relief of Karl Young. Hagman got the save.

Steve Carlisle paced Forest Lakeís offense with three hits while Joey Lawrence added two.
Raabe said Forest Lake is finding out fast how hard it is to stay at the top.

ìWeíre good, but not good enough to just show up and win,î he said. ìWe need to do all the little things right to keep our winnings ways.î

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