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Swing and a miss against Duluth East |
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Wednesday, 11 June 2008 |
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
For the Forest Lake baseball team to get through the Section 7AAA playoffs last Tuesday in Cambridge, the Rangers had to defeat both Duluth Central and Duluth East in the same afternoon, but it proved to be one Duluth too many.
After beating Central 5-3 in the early game, Forest Lake had a short rest before taking on East.
At the time, the Greyhounds were 18-6, and they would make Forest Lake their 19th victim with a 5-0 shutout.
Three Rangers totaled just five hits in the game, as Brent Kolbow (two singles), Matt Zidar (two singles) and Mike Schultz (one single) received little offensive assistance when they did get on base, or they were getting caught in double plays, which essentially ran them out of three innings.
Michael Swenson was on the mound for Forest Lake, and he lasted into the sixth inning before Travis Evgen would take over.
As per his trademark, Swenson didn’t walk anyone, but unlike his usual efforts, he did give up eight hits, with five of those going for extra bases.
The Greyhounds would score twice in the second and thrice in the fifth, while the Rangers’ hopes would flame out in the top of the seventh inning.
“You know, quite honestly, going into sections I felt we were the fourth best team and that’s exactly how it ended,” head coach Brian Raabe said.
The poor showing came just hours after Forest Lake took care of Duluth Central for the second time this season.
The first contest was no contest, as Raabe’s club took it to the Trojans 10-0 back in April.
Tuesday’s 5-3 victory wouldn’t come quite as easy, but the Rangers did collect 11 hits and bat .379 in support of starter Zidar.
Kyle Jensen, Ty Cremisino and Kolbow all had multi-hit performances, with eight different Rangers contributing to the team’s total.
The win gave Forest Lake (13-12) the opportunity to meet Duluth East, but since the Rangers had already lost once in the tournament to Grand Rapids, another setback would end the season.
“I’m very, very pleased and very, very proud of this team,” Raabe said.
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