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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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Lunkers' offense, defense absent NORTHWOODS LEAGUE By Thor Nystrom Sports Writer William Hung of "American Idol" fame was in the house wearing a Lunkers jersey, a big crowd showed up in support and the sun was absolutely blazing before falling beneath the treetops and leaving behind stunning orange and purple clouds.
What was missing?
The Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers offense and defense.
Thunder Bay starting pitcher Matt Robertson confounded Brainerd batters and Lunkers fielders committed five errors in the Border Cats' 3-2 victory on Tuesday night at Mills Field.
"We didn't come ready to play today," Lunkers field manager Ryan Levendoski said. "Guys showed up late, guys were horsing around before the game. That's my fault. We came out flat. We need to play better (Wednesday)."
The Lunkers trailed 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning when T.J. Berge beat out an infield single to score Stephen Wickens.
Thunder Bay 3, Lunkers 2
The key: Brainerd's 3-0 deficit proves too much to overcome.
Attendance: 724
Records: Brd 12-12, TB 5-20
Next: Brainerd vs. Thunder Bay, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Mills Field.
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In the eighth, Michael Kvasnicka crushed a solo home run to right-center field off reliever Matthew Singer to pull Brainerd within one run.
"We didn't give a quality effort until the seventh inning," Levendoski said. "You can't just choose to turn it on that late."
The Border Cats jumped out to the quick lead by scoring one run in each of the first three innings.
The highlight of the game for Brainerd fans, outside of Hung's performances of "Achy Breaky Heart" before the top of the fifth inning, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the middle of the seventh, and his infamous rendition of "She Bangs" before the eighth, was a 5-4-3-2-6 triple play in the top of the sixth.
Thunder Bay had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth. Dean Forthun grounded to third baseman David Valesente to start an around-the-horn double play. First baseman Andrew Gudmunson threw to catcher Nate Hammes when he noticed lead runner Garrett Totten was headed home. Totten reversed course and Hammes threw to Stephen Wickens, who was covering third. Wickens ran down Totten for the inning's third out and a rousing ovation from the Mills Field crowd.
Lunkers starter Mike Gedman allowed two earned runs in seven innings. He surrendered nine hits and one walk while striking out six.
"Mike battled hard tonight," Levendoski said.
Tuesday's setback was the third consecutive loss for the Lunkers as they fell back to .500 (12-12).
"We need to have a better effort (Wednesday) night," Levendoski said.
Thunder Bay 111 000 000 - 3 9 0
Brainerd 000 000 110 - 2 10 5
WP: Matt Robertson. LP: Mike Gedman. Sv: Chris Marlowe.
2B: Stephen Wickens (B), A.J. Schugel (TB)
HR: Michael Kvasnicka (B)
SB: Justin Gominsky (B), Garret Houts (TB)
SF: Gominsky (B)
RBIs: Houts 2 (TB), T.J. Berge (B), Kvasnicka (B).
DP: Brd 2, TB 3
LOB: Brd 9, TB 6
T: 2:34
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