Posted: 5/5/04

Rangers losing streak hits 4

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

A first inning grand slam by White Bear Lake is not the way Forest Lake wanted things to start as they brought a three game losing streak into Mondayís game.

ìWe gave up five runs in the first inning, four off a grand slam and we never really recovered from there,î Forest Lake baseball coach Brian Raabe said. ìA few walks and an error loaded the bases, then the home run. We could have been out of the inning only giving up one run, but we didnít and we had to try to come back from that and we didnít.î

White Bear Lake added three more runs in the third inning and another one in the fourth before the Rangers scored their only run of the game in the fifth inning.

ìWhen youíre down like that, you have to try to pile up a bunch of hits to get yourself back in the game,î Raabe said. ìWe just couldnít get anything going and we were down early.î

Earlier in the week the Rangers hosted Park (Cottage Grove).

The Rangers had an early 3-0 lead after two innings, and were up 4-1 going into the sixth inning. In the sixth, Park (Cottage Grove) scored five runs. In the bottom half of the inning the Rangers were only able to score once. Park (Cottage Grove) added another run in the seventh as the game ended 7-5.

ìIt was a pretty good ball game,î Raabe said. ìWe had a situation where we had the lead and we gave up a couple of walks, booted a ball and they went ahead. Thatís baseball.î

Raabe says that the team has been playing well, they just canít put together a good pitching performance with good fielding.

ìItís one of those things where one day weíll have decent pitching, but weíll have a lot of errors in the field and thatís not helping us,î Raabe said. ìRight now weíre not getting that stuff done. Our hitting has been pretty good up until Monday. What we need is to have a little more consistency.î

The consistency Raabe is looking for is a complete game. Raabe says the team is playing well but having one bad inning each game that allows their opponents to score a few runs and take the lead, making it harder for the Rangers to come back.

The Rangers hope to find their way back into the win column in Wednesdayís game against Woodbury, but they know they will have to be on top of their game as Woodbury is ranked fourth in the state.

ìWoodbury is a very tough team,î Raabe said. ìThey can swing the bat well so our work is cut out for us. In this conference you have to have all phases of your game going to win, if you donít itís going to be a very tough day.î

The Rangers next game is Friday at Hastings at 4 p.m.

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