Joe Drennan
Sports EditorAnybody who was hoping Fridayís Forest Lake American Legion Post 4120 was going to be a quick game was sorely mistaken.
The first inning alone took almost an hour to play as Woodbury scored five runs off Andy Norbin before Zach Guttormson came in to finish the inning. Forest Lake battled back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but Woodbury added three more runs in the third inning.
The game battled back and forth, but amid some questionable calls by both the plate umpire and the field umpire many fans began to voice their discontent. Some were so upset by the umpiring crew that they were asked to finish watching the game from the other side of the fence of The Ballpark at Schumacher Field.
ìYou try to ignore it [the umping], but when the umpire is running back to the grandstand and warning peopleís grandmothers about one more word itís hard to not be a distraction,î Forest Lake coach Mike Welch said.
Jeremy Hansen then pitched a few innings, giving up several runs before Brian Welch came into pitch. Bobby Hagar pitched the last out.
The game was supposed to be a ìnothingî game because the outcome did not affect the league standings or the playoff seedings.
ìI went into it with the idea that I didnít want to use up pitching,î Welch said, ìbut it was nice for the players to react and say there is no such thing. We want to win.î
As Forest Lake battled back into the game to finally tie it 10-10 in the fifth inning, it was clear they were out to win the game. Forest Lake added two more runs in the fifth inning to post a 12-10 lead. Woodbury was able to mount a comeback and win the game 16-13 in seven innings.
The game started at 7 p.m. but didnít end until 10:30 p.m.
ìIt was a long game, bizarre game,î Welch said.
Forest Lake had 16 hits in the game. Zach Lund went 3-4 with two runs batted in, and Bobby Hager, Paul Miron and Chris Conley all had two hit. Every player on the team had at least one hit.
ìIt was nice to see them play with some fire and I donít know if I have seen as much of that this summer as I would have liked to see,î Welch said. ìIf the enthusiasm that the boys played with Friday carries over into Tuesdayís game, then it will be a real positive.î
Earlier in the week Forest Lake lost to Mahtomedi 11-0 in five innings, Hager had the only Forest Lake hit.
On Wednesday, Forest Lake beat Stillwater 8-5. Forest Lake scored one run in the fourth inning when Lund singled Miron in to score. Guttormson held Stillwater scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when they scored four runs.
Forest Lake scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game. Forest Lake scored four more runs in the seventh inning to secure the victory.
Forest Lake played Red Wing Tuesday in a district playoff game at Red Wing. The game was played after the papers deadline. A game recap will be in next weeks paper.
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