Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

It felt like the Fourth of July arrived early at Schumacher Field on Friday, June 30, as the Forest Lake Brewers and the Hamel Hawks supplied enough explosions and oohs and ahhs to practically light up the night sky. Or as coach Adam Gallatin noted, ìWe had a wild game on Friday night.î

The Brewers and the Hawks entered the game with matching 7-3 records, which put them just 1/2 game behind St. Francis for first place in the Metro Minny Conference. So it was only fitting that these two teams battled into extra innings, and it was quite a ride to reach that point in the evening.

The Hawks started the game by putting one run on the board, but the Brewers did the same in the bottom half of the first as the two teams then settled into a few innings of scoreless ball.

That all changed in the fourth when Forest Lake rang up four runs after Alex Johnson reached base on an error.

The gaffe seemed to ignite the Brewers as they alternated between doubles and singles supplied by Eric Goerdt, Bart Musser, Paul Miron and Steve Carlisle. The final RBI of the 4-run rally was knocked in by Brian Welch on a fielderís choice.

With a 5-1 lead and Chris Parent pitching all the way into the eighth inning, Forest Lake had to like its chances when Zach Guttormson came in for the possible save.

The key word proved to be, possible.

ìWe were cruising until the eighth when we let some mistakes get to us, and things kind of got out of control,î Gallatin shared afterward.

A few bloop hits here, and some shaky defense there, allowed the Hawks to put up four runs and suddenly tie the game.

The flurry of activity fizzled as quickly as it erupted, and neither team could score again until the 11th inning. As Gallatin said, that is when the wheels would come off and there would be a bit of controversy.

In the top of the 11th, Hamel had two men on with one out when they grounded to short for a possible double play.

Yes, thereís that word again. Possible.

The out at second happened as planned, but the throw to first was dropped, and those proverbial wheels were now very loose.

The next batter hit a ball back to the pitcher, but that turned into a throw where the ball ended up in right field, which allowed two Hawks to score.

After a walk, the following batter drilled one into the right field wall where the ball got stuck in the ivy. Instead of signaling the hit a ground rule double, the umpire said it was live. Around the bases came all three Hamel players, along with a commanding 5-run lead.

But the game was by no means over as the Brewers would finish with a bang.

Welch and Gallatin led off the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles. One strike out later, Mark Miron and Johnson would join the singles party, and Goerdt mixed it up with his fourth hit of the night, including his second double.

Goerdt moved to third on a fly out and Paul Miron was hit by a pitch. Paul Miron then stole second base, which meant Goerdt represented the tying run on third, and Paul Miron was the ìpossibleî winning run.

Carlisle came to the plate where he already had three hits, but he would have to settle for that total as the hit parade would come to a close when he grounded out to end the exciting ballgame 10-9.

The Brewers also lost a non-conference game on Tuesday, June 27, to Wesley Homes.

Next up for Forest Lake was a home game against the Coon Rapids Cardinals on Wednesday, and a rematch with Hamel on Friday, July 7 at 7:30 p.m.

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Forest Lake Times
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Forest Lake, MN 55025
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