The Forest Lake baseball season may have come to a disappointing conclusion last Wednesday evening in Princeton, but the teamís final loss to St. Francis in the Section 7 AAA finals could not tarnish the shine that sparkles on a terrific year for the Rangers.

ìI canít tell you how proud I am of this group,î head coach Brian Raabe said. ìWe did the best we could, and each and every player left their heart and soul out on the field.î

The Rangers battled back from a loss to St. Francis on Monday, June 5, by beating Grand Rapids 6-1 on Tuesday. This earned Forest Lake the opportunity to play St. Francis again for a trip to the state finals.

The only catch was that the Rangers needed to beat the Saints twice, which proved to be a difficult assignment.

In the first game on Wednesday, Forest Lake continued its trend of starting fast by putting up two runs in both the first and second innings. Erik Zentzis was on the mound for the Rangers and he limited St. Francis to one run in each of the first four innings.

With both teams failing to score in the fifth, sixth or seventh, it was time for another thrilling finish as the 4-4 ballgame went into extra innings.

Enter Jed Hanson, who would not only hit the game-winning home run in the top of the eighth, but he would also step in with one out in the bottom of the inning and get the save in the 5-4 Ranger victory.

ìJed is truly a gifted player,î Raabe said. ìIím just proud I had a chance to coach him.î

The win meant the same two teams would play one more time in the double-elimination tournament, but the second game was a completely different story.

After the grind of playing their fifth game in three days, Forest Lake was tired and Raabe tried to find a live arm in his line-up. With Trip Schultz and Hanson already spent from throwing earlier in the week, the Rangers ended up using four pitchers to combat All-Metro selection, Jake Draeger, of St. Francis.

This time there would be no quick start for the Rangers on offense, and the Saints went marching in to the state playoffs with a convincing 9-2 victory.

ìHe showed why heís their No. 1 pitcher,î Raabe said of Draeger. ìHe shut us down. He scattered hits is what he did.î

Draegerís partner in crime on the offensive side was the hot-hitting Chad Urista. The Saints second baseman collected three hits, with two of those going for home runs, on his way to racking up 4 RBI.

Even though the Rangers will not participate in the state tournament, Raabe was still upbeat as he thought about the teamís outstanding season as well as their great two-year run. The boys finished 21-6 in 2006, and went 37-11 during the past two campaigns.

It truly is a celebration of a great year,î Raabe said.î

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Forest Lake Times
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