Posted: 4/27/05
Rangers continue to roll despite being no hit by Mounds View
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Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
The Forest Lake High School baseball team has been red hot to start off the 2005 season but they ran into some tough competition last Wednesday in Mounds View pitchers Mark Hamburger and Blake Searles as the Rangers suffered their first loss of the season.
Hamburger pitched six innings of no-hit baseball and Searles came in to finish the seventh inning and continued where Hamburger left off as the two combined for a no-hitter. Mounds View was only able to score one run in the game off four hits off Rangers pitcher Zach Guttormson.
ìWe ran into some tough pitching there,î Rangers head coach Brian Raabe said. ìZach pitched probably the best game heís pitched but for whatever reason we couldnít get any hits and it was one of those things where we didnít do anything to win the game. Thatís baseball though.î
The loss was the Rangers first of the season.
The Rangers didnít let the loss to Mounds View affect them as they bounced back to beat Park Center 10-0 in five innings in a non-conference game. Pitcher Jed Hanson got the victory on the mound.
ìWhen we have a game we lose, we want to go right back out,î Raabe said. ìWeíre going to lose baseball games, but when we do we donít want to get into losing streaks. In the past we had them because we couldnít seem to pull it together after a loss.î
The Rangers returned to the win column in conference play Monday with a 5-3 win over Roseville.
ìJed did not have his best stuff, but because heís a competitor he was able to win the game,î Raabe said.
The Rangers were the first to strike with a run in the top of the second, but Roseville answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The Rangers added one run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Both teams scored runs in the seventh inning.
ìWeíve gotten timely hitting, we only have six errors total the whole season and weíve had good pitching, thatís why weíre 6-1,î Raabe said.
Hanson was the Rangers pitcher credited with the victory and Guttormson the save. Hanson pitched six innings, giving up six hits while striking out six.
The Rangers next game is Friday when they host Cambridge-Isanti at The Ballpark at Schumacher Field at 7 p.m.
ìWe play in the toughest conference in the state and any team can beat you on any given day,î Raabe said. ìThis is a tough week for us though because on Friday we play Cambridge-Isanti whoís a regional opponent and regional games are as important if not more important than a conference game.î
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