Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

This one played out just as expected.

Heading into the Metro Minny League playoffs, the Forest Lake Brewers were the third seed, which meant they had to travel to second-seeded Champlin on Saturday afternoon for the start of a best-of-three series. These two squads ended the regular season with an even 1-1 record against each other.

Adding to the playoff drama was the fact that the LoGators and the Brewers aren’t exactly fond of one another.

“It was a pretty wild game,” co-head coach Adam Gallatin said in an e-mail. “There is definitely no love lost between these teams.”

Game 1 on July 28 went to Champlin by the score of 7-1. Forest Lake opened the scoring with a Bobby Hager run off an Eric Zentzis single, but that would wrap up the Brewer offense.

Chris Parent started on the mound for the Brewers and he lasted into the seventh inning, giving up nine hits, striking out six, and allowing four earned runs; the defense committed four errors in the game.

Champlin limited the Brewers to six hits while the LoGators hitters picked up three runs in the fourth and then four in the seventh inning.

With a rematch coming on Sunday evening in Forest Lake, there was little time for either club to focus on the past.

When the second game was finally over, Forest Lake had muscled its way to a 12-9 victory to force the decisive game on Tuesday, July 31.

“It didn’t go quite as we had drawn it up, as our starting pitcher, Dave Gauerke, hurt his shoulder in the second inning and Zach Guttormson had to come in (in) an emergency role,” Gallatin said.

Guttormson is typically used in short relief, but once he fought through the second inning he warmed up and settled down. He allowed only two runs in the fourth before eventually handing the ball over to Parent for the final two innings.

There was that second inning to deal with, however, as Champlin turned a 2-1 deficit after one into a 6-2 lead going into the third.

Finally, in the sixth inning, the Brewers started hitting and began to dig out of an 8-4 hole.

Forest Lake scored four in the sixth, and then matched that number in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“Eric Goerdt hit a monster home run to left that kind of gave us our mojo back,” Gallatin said. “The intensity from that point on was great. You could tell the guys didn’t want this to be our last game of the year.”

In Gallatin’s opinion, Hager had his best game of the year, collecting four hits and five RBI, and being at the center of the action.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Brewers took a one-run lead and had the bases loaded with Hager at the plate.

“He leaned into a pitch and got plunked, which should have forced a run home, but the ump made him stay in the box, saying he leaned out over the plate,” Gallatin shared.

“Two pitches later he hit a bases-clearing triple into the gap in left that put the game out of reach.”

Brian Welch and Goerdt each had two hits.

Of the six Metro Minny Class C teams, the final two teams will earn a berth to the Regional Tournament in Hinckley.

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