Posted: 5/4/05
Baseball team improves to 8-1
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Joe Drennan
Sports editor
When the state coaches poll was printed Tuesday, the Forest Lake High School baseball team was ranked fourth thanks to victories over Park (Cottage Grove) and Cambridge-Isanti.
ìThe polls mean absolutely nothing to us right now,î Rangers head coach Brian Raabe said. ìThey mean nothing until the end of the year and hopefully we can do better than they say.î
Coaches around the state are taking notice of the Rangers and their 8-1 record. In the Rangers nine games, they have scored 75 runs, but only given up 12 runs.
ìOur pitching has been dominate and whenever you can put somebody out there and theyíre going to give you a chance to win youíre doing pretty well,î Raabe said. ìThis year we have three guys (Zach Guttormson, Jed Hanson and Trip Schultz) who pitch very well and in a week when we have three games we can throw a different pitcher out and weíre going to have a chance to win.î
The Rangers started their week of play off with a 6-0 win over Park (Cottage Grove). The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Andy Norbin hit a sacrifice fly that scored the first run of the game.
ìOnce we got that run, the flood gates opened,î Raabe said. ìWe also had a tremendous game out of Guttormson on the mound.î
The Rangers next game was a Friday night game at The Ballpark at Schumacher Field. The Rangers wanted to have a number of night games this year in an attempt to draw a crowd, and in their first night game of the season they had the stands packed.
ìThere were a lot of students and kids there Friday night and it was almost like a football game in that the kids were out back playing ball,î Raabe said. ìThose are the things we want to do and get the people in the community excited about baseball.î
In the game against regional rival Cambridge-Isanti the Rangers again started out slowly, but a Schultz triple that he ended up scoring on due to an error gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead that swelled to an 11-1 victory.
ìWe kind of start off slowly, but then once we score a run, things start to happen,î Raabe said. ìWhat we need to do is jump on people earlier. Once weíre on top though we really seem to fly with it.î
Raabe says that one of the keys to the Rangers success is the attitude of the players. He said each player has a role and they have all accepted their rolls.
ìKyle Johnsonís role has been to be a pinch runner for us and he already has five stolen bases,î Raabe said. ìI know players would rather be starting, but when theyíre given the opportunity to do what theyíre asked to do theyíre coming through for us. Thatís how things have to be to be a good team.î
The Rangers next game is Friday night at The Ballpark at Schumacher Field where they host Hastings at 7 p.m.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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