Joe Drennan
Sports EditorAfter winning the Minnesota Mickey Mantle state championship, the Forest Lake Mickey Mantle baseball team was simply trying to extend its season a few more games and pick up a few more wins as it advanced to the North Central Regional Tournament in Cold Water, Michigan over the weekend. With a fifth round loss to Grose Point, Ontario, Forest Lake finished third.
In their first game of the ten-team tournament, Forest Lake faced White Rock, IL. Going into the last inning of play, White Rock had a 2-1 lead, but Forest Lake pitcher Jake Drager (drafted from St. Francis) ran out of gas and White Rock added three runs to their score to win 5-1.
ìI probably left Jake in too long,î Forest Lake head coach Kale Henry said. ìAt the same time their pitching was very good.î
White Rock held Forest Lake to only six hits the entire game. Drager scored Forest Lakeís only run after reaching base on an error. Drager advanced to second base on the same error that allowed him to reach base, then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Drager later scored on another error.
ìWe left five guys in scoring position and we just didnít get the big hits early on,î Henry said.
After the loss to White Rock, Forest Lake tried to stave off elimination in the double elimination tournament as they played host Cold Water, MI. Henry watched Cold Water defeat Apple Valley 4-3 the night before as he scouted the team.
ìWhen I watched them play I saw they were solid,î Henry said. ìThey put the bat on the ball and they liked to move guys and run and do different things, and they tried all those things against us.î
Trip Schultz pitched against Cold Water for Forest Lake, going the distance, giving up five hits and two runs while striking out five.
In the first inning, Forest Lake got on the board first with one run when Schultz singled in a run.
ìWe got out to a lead which was nice which is important after losing the night before,î Henry said.
Cold Water tied the game in the top of the fourth inning, but Forest Lake got two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Andy Pooch doubled then scored off a Christian Fogerty double. Fogerty later stole third then scored after the pickoff attempt went into left field.
In the sixth inning there was a scary moment when Forest Lake catcher Nick Carroll took a ball to the throat. Carroll went down and was taken off the field on a stretcher and spent the night in the hospital with a bruised throat.
ìI was a little concerned because any time youíre teammate goes down and you see him carried off itís difficult to stay focused,î Henry said.
Cold Water scored a run in the inning, but it would be their last run of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jeff Brooks led off with a single, followed by another Forest Lake single that scored Brooks. Pooch then came to the plate and hit a two run home run to give Forest Lake a 5-2 lead that proved to be the final score.
ìTripp pitched great,î Henry said. ìHe went 1-2 with two stolen bases and a walk, as well as making four or five great defensive plays to keep guys off base. He really helped himself out at the plate and on the field.î
Playing the host team, there was bound to be a good crowd, but Forest Lake had a large number of its followers at the game under the lights.
ìIt was fun,î Henry said. ìThey [Cold Water] were fighting to eliminate us and go 2-0 in the tournament and we were able to beat the home team and that was something that was pretty exciting for our boys.î
In the third round, Forest Lake faced a Kalamazoo, MI team that had an identical 1-1 record, losing to Grose Point, Ontario, 9-7, and beating Jacksonville, IL, 19-0. Forest Lake scored four quick runs in the first inning to send Kalamazooís starting pitcher to the showers. Forest Lake got three of their first inning runs off a Chaz Norrgard bases loaded single.
ìThe kids were chomping at the bit to go and they wanted to get the lead,î Henry said. ìIt was fun to be ahead 4-0 early. In a tournament like this one, to knock out a pitcher early you know theyíre getting lower in the rotation too.î
Fogerty pitched five innings for Forest Lake, giving up two hits and an unearned run in a 9-1, five inning victory.
ìHe didnít have his best control but he was able to tough it out and make the pitches he needed to,î Henry said.
Helping Forest Lakeís score their nine runs, Norrgard went 2-3 with four runs batted in.
ìWe did a lot of little things,î Henry said. ìWe ran the bases well and played great defense too.î
Going into the fourth round, five teams were still alive so the teams entered a drawing to see who would have a bye for the round. Forest Lake drew the bye and advanced to the fifth round.
Forest Lake then faced Grose Point, Ontario. Grose Point was an all-star team made up of players from around the Toronto area.
ìThis team was unreal,î Henry said. ìThey didnít have a weak spot in their lineup. These kids just hit the baseball all over the diamond.î
Forest Lake got out of the first inning without surrendering a run to Grose Point, giving the team a little confidence. In the second inning though Grose Point tallied seven runs. After four innings, Forest Lake was down 11-1 going into the bottom of the fourth when they were able to score five runs. The only problem was Grose Point matched Forest Lakeís output with five runs of their own.
ìOne of the things we talked about as a team is we never quit,î Henry said. ìWeíre proud of our accomplishments and the boys went up there and they didnít quit.î
In the end Grose Point won the game 16-6.
ìItís tough to match up against an all-star team like that, but we have a lot to be proud of coming in and finishing third,î Henry said. ìThis Montero team had 20 hits so itís not like we did it to ourselves. They earned it.î
Forest Lake finished the season 26-10-1.
ìThis season helps build confidence for us,î Henry said. ìIt gives the boys a taste of what itís like to win. It also gives us a nice jumping off point for the high school and summer seasons. This season also creates competition among the returning high school players and these boys. This is a really good thing for our baseball program as a whole to have something like this happen.î
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