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Saturday, July 4, 2009
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Lunker offense struggles
By JOE LINDHOLM Sports Writer The Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers, starting the second half of the Northwoods League season Friday night, fell 5-1 to the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
After finishing the first half of the season at 16-17, the Lunkers are hoping to have a winning second half and secure their first playoff berth.
Thunder Bay, making its second visit of the season to Mills Field, is delighted to see the second half of the season starting. The Border Cats came into the game with a record of 9-25. Brainerd and Thunder had split their four previous matchups this season.
Brainerd finished in fourth place for the first half of the season, seven games behind first-place finisher Mankato. While being in last place, Thunder Bay came into the game riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping St. Cloud.
The Lunkers sent pitcher Taylor Babich from Rhodes College, with a 3-1 record and 3.58 ERA, to the mound to face the Border Cats' Tyler Powell, with a 0-2 record, and a 7.56 ERA.
Powell pitched a complete game, giving up just one run on eight hits. A three run double by David Phillips was the key hit in the fourth inning.
Brainerd Manager Ryan Levendoski knew that the early runs scored by Thunder Bay took away a dimension from the Lunkers' offensively.
"It seems like every time we run into Thunder Bay they have very strong pitching against us," said Levendoski. "Their pitcher threw strikes and his pitches were down in the zone. He pitched well. It does hurt us when we get down by so much because we can't play our game and hit and run."
The key:
Thunder Bay's Tyler Powell pitches complete game, holding the Lunkers to just one run.
Attendance: 440
Records: Brainerd (16-18), Thunder Bay (10-25)
Next: Thunder Bay at Brainerd 12:05 p.m. Saturday
Free hot dogs Saturday
The series wraps up at 12:05 p.m. Saturday when it will be Fourth of July Celebration Day, presented by Mills Fleet Farm. Fans will receive unlimited complimentary hot dogs throughout the game.
Tickets are available at the Lunkers ticket office at Mills Field or at Cub Foods in Brainerd and Baxter.
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Control issues proved costly for Babich as he walked two batters and hit three batters in the first four innings. In the fourth inning, Babich walked Walker Moore and hit Adam Courcha. Both runners, along with Dean Forthun, scored on Phillips' three-run double to the right center field gap to give Thunder Bay a 5-0 lead.
Brainerd struggled with mounting any offensive attack against Powell. Through six innings the Lunkers were able to accumulate just five hits, and compounded the problem further by hitting into three double plays to kill potential rallies before they could get started.
The Lunkers were led offensively by Michael Kvasnicka, Michael Gedman and Hunter Nolen who each had two hits. Pitcher Matt Mullendore just joined the team on Friday and pitched well in relief, throwing four innings of shutout baseball, walking just one batter while striking out three.
"We were looking for someone to take Matt Wood's spot who is hurt and we got Matt. He was pretty good tonight throwing four innings and only giving up three hits and struckout three. He was around the strike zone the entire time and forced contact and was able to pitch out of one or two jams. He is definitely a good find."
Thunder Bay 020 300 000
Brainerd 000 000 100
TB: Tyler Powell and Dean Forthun
Brd: Taylor Babich, Matt Mullendore (5), Mike Frongello (9) and Hunter Nolen.
WP: Tyler Powell (1-2). LP: Taylor Babich (3-2).
2B:TB Derek Hamblen, David Phillips
3B:TB Adam Courcha
SF: Brd Hunter Nolen
RBIs:TB Courcha (2), Phillips (3), Brd Nolen
DP: Brd 3, TB
LOB: Brd 4, TB 13
T: 2:40
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