Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

A spot in the double-elimination district playoffs for the VFW baseball team meant Forest Lake still had another life to use after losing 5-4 in the opening game on Tuesday, July 24.

And they used it as long as they could, picking up wins on both Thursday and Friday before having their season end with a 10-7 loss to Mounds View on Saturday.

Assistant coach Dale Hager noted that the sloppy play in the Mounds View defeat was a tough way to close a great summer, as he believed Post 4210 had a good chance of winning the district and going on to state.

The playoffs began with Forest Lake turning up on the wrong side of too many numbers in a 5-4 loss to Centennial. Hager and head coach Jim Bourque’s group scored four runs on 13 hits, stranding a total of 10 runners on base in this contest.

The team also had three costly errors as Centennial would score five times on just five hits.

“(A) game we should have won,” Hager shared.

Ty Cremisino went 2-for-4 and Corey Manning went 2-for-3 with a walk.

The starting pitcher was Nick Charest, who went six innings, struck out five and allowed only two earned runs.

Coming back on Thursday, Post 4210 would have an Andover squad that they had already beaten twice.

Make that three times as everyone for Forest Lake would get on base at least once in an easy 11-3 decision.

Alex Philippi threw six, strong innings on his way to piling up seven strikeouts and giving up just three runs on six hits.

Friday would bring Brooklyn Center, and even though Forest Lake led the entire way in the 6-5 victory, the outcome looked a little precarious when the opposition picked up two runs in the seventh inning.

Mike Swensen was on the mound in this one and he went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits.

Joe DeVore and Billy Rosenthal would each go 3-for-4 on the day.

Now came the sloppy conclusion to the season, with each team making at least four errors in the 10-7 shootout.

Forest Lake had 12 hits and Mounds View had 13.

The boys finished with a 21-8 record overall in what turned out to be a great summertime ride.

“This group of guys were special,” Hager shared. “They will be a big help at the varsity level.”

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