Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The Forest Lake baseball team has fought through an up and down season, which has them just under .500 as they head toward the end of their schedule.

The month of June started strong for Forest Lake when they won 2nd place in the VFW River Rats Wood Bat Tournament in Minneapolis.

In the first game of the tourney, Forest Lake was down 3-0 heading into their final at-bat, but were able to rattle off four runs to steal the victory. Nate Lindgren, Pat Larson and Pete Weber had key hits during the comeback.

The second and third games were prime examples of why head coach Jim Bourque is looking for more consistency from his team.

Game two was a beauty as Jordan Hoppe threw a no-hitter during the comfortable 8-0 win.

However, the offense and defense took a siesta during the championship game where Forest Lake lost 12-2 to North St. Paul.

In the second inning, Forest Lake gave up seven runs, but only two of those were earned, which cancelled out Jordan Kolbowís solid pitching performance.

On Wednesday, June 21, the young men traveled to Elk River. Forest Lake was clinging to a 7-6 lead after six innings, and in the bottom of the seventh Elk River had the bases loaded with no outs.

No problem. Nothing a routine triple play canít solve.

Elk River popped up to the outfield for the first out, and then the runner from third was thrown out at home, and the base runner from second was subsequently thrown out at third.

Matt Zidar pitched six innings and Ben Marleau picked up the nerve-wracking save.

In the last week of June, Forest Lake continued to win a little, but also lose a little.

Forest Lake lost two on the road and then came home for a 9-8 win against Irondale on Wednesday, June 28.

Pitching and defense were main concerns during the two losses, and once again, Forest Lake kept things interesting on their way to a victory.

Irondale was up 8-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, but after Forest Lake inched back to make it 8-6, Cole Goodyear had the hit of the game.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Goodyear smacked a double, which scored three runs for the win.

Coach Bourque says theyíll be ready for the playoffs as he sees the teamís hitting improve, but he hopes to cut down on the walks.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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