Joe Drennan
Sports EditorThe Forest Lake American Legion Post 412 baseball team was hoping to start an eight games in eight days stretch a little better than the way it did.
Forest Lake began the stretch Thursday at home against South St. Paul. The two teams exchanged runs in the first inning, then South St. Paul scored another run in the fourth inning. The two teams exchanged runs again in the fifth inning. South St. Paul put things away in the seventh inning when they outscored Forest Lake 2-1 in the inning to win the game 5-3.
ìWe just didnít get enough hits from enough people,î Forest Lake head coach Mike Welch said. ìWe had eight hits in the game but seven of them were from three players.î
Andy Norbin and Brian Welch each had two hits, and Paul Miron had three. On the mound Zach Guttormson, Jeremy Hansen and Miron each saw some innings as Welch was trying to preserve his pitchers for the weekends Gopher Classic.
On Friday Forest Lake started the tournament by playing a team from Sioux Falls, SD. Forest Lake was ahead 5-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Sioux Falls scored one run in the fifth, then five more in the sixth inning. Sioux Falls held on to the 6-5 lead to win the game.
In Sioux Fallsí five run sixth inning, they didnít get their first hit until the eighth batter of the inning came to the plate. The combination of walks and errors led to the Sioux Falls base runners. Zach Lund was the Forest Lake starting pitcher.
ìZac pitched well until the sixth inning,î Welch said. ìIt was very hot and he just ran out of gas.î
Saturday didnít get much better as Forest Lake had two games in one day. Richfield beat Forest Lake in five innings by a score of 14-1. Forest Lake scored one run in the top of the inning, but Richfield answered back with seven runs of their own and didnít look back.
Later in the day West. St. Paul reached double digits to beat Forest Lake by a score of 10-2. Bobby Hager hit a home run in the third inning to score Forest Lakeís second run of the game.
ìI think for the tournament Patrick Fogerty went 5-9, Brian Welch went 5-9 and Hager went 4-9,î Welch said. ìThe rest of the team went 4-47.î
Monday things didnít get much better as Forest Lake played host to Park. A four run fifth inning helped Park defeat Forest Lake 8-0, putting Forest Lakeís season record at 5-12.
Forest Lakeís next game is today, Thursday, at Mahtomedi at 6:15 p.m.
Top of Page
