Baker Powers Wildcats to Baseball Victory

Josh Baker hit two, two-run, home runs to power the undefeated baseball team past Lake Country Lutheran 15-5 in a Midwest Classic Conference North game at USM Thursday.

Although the game ended well for the Wildcats, the beginning was not so good.  Lake Country Lutheran scored four, unearned runs in the top of the first inning.  With one out, Kyle Bahr reached first on an error.  He stole second then scored on Brady Andersen's single. Andersen took second on the throw, and scored when Jesse Turner reached on a dropped third strike.  Murphy Shannon went in as a courtesy runner for Turner and went to third on a two-out error that allowed Ben Wilkins to get to second. Chris Kornowski then doubled to drive in both runners.

The Wildcats quickly put aside their poor play in the top of the first, and they began to chip away at the Lightning's lead in the bottom of the inning.  With two out, Baker walked and soon stole second. Tommy Pennington reached on an error that allowed Baker to get to third. The two runners then executed a double steal and USM had its first run.

USM's starting pitcher Billy Lawton kept the Lightning scoreless in the top of the second, and in the bottom of the inning his teammates took the lead.  Jack Wells led off with a walk and stole second.  Jake Watton also walked.  Then with one out Wells and Watton executed another double steal to put runners on second and third. Stanford then hit an infield single to drive in Wells. Watton scored on Duncan Brown's sacrifice bunt. Baker then lined Turner's pitch over the right field fence to give USM a 5-4 advantage.

Lake Country Lutheran tied it with a run in the third when BJ Sabol doubled to score Andersen who had reached on a single and stolen second base.

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Greg Trinkl who relieved Lawton on the mound craftily shut out the Lightning batters in the top of the fourth.  He had help from his catcher, Brown, who picked two Lake Country Lutheran runners off with quick throws to first base.

The Wildcats proceeded to score 10 runs in their final three at bats. They broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth by scoring four runs.  Brown began the proceedings by lining a single with one out. The next batter, Baker, walked.  After another out, USM's coach Tim Bartz signaled for a steal. So Brown and Baker executed USM's third double steal of the game to perfection. Trinkl then walked to load the bases, and Joey Judge ran for Trinkl as a courtesy runner.  Nathan Burke then lined a single to center to drive in Brown and Baker. Judge and Burke advanced on the throw to the plate. Wells singled to score Judge, and Burke scored on an error on the play.  It was suddenly 9-5 USM.

USM's third pitcher, Pennington, mystified the Lightning in their final two at bats, while the USM batters stupefied the Lightning by scoring six runs in their own final two trips to the plate.

The Wildcats augmented their run total with two more in the fifth.  With one out, Stanford walked and then stole second. Wary after his homer, the Lightning intentionally walked Baker with two out. Pennington promptly provided Wildcat thunder, belting the ball for a two-run double, proving that walking Baker to pitch to him was an unmitigated blunder.

USM ended the game an inning early by scoring four more in the sixth.  With one out, Patrick Lubar drew a walk.  Nishad Agrawal lined a single to right, sending Lubar to third. For the fourth time USM ran a double steal; Lubar stole home while Agrawal stole second. Agrawal went to third on an error on the Lightning's futile attempt to stop the play.  Stanford then dropped down his second squeeze bunt in two games. He was out at first, but Agrawal scored on the sacrifice.  Brown then walked to bring Baker to the plate.  Like he was driving a nail into a coffin, Baker clobbered the first pitch over the right field fence, giving USM a ten-run lead and burying Lake Country Lutheran’s chances.

In the game, Trinkl was the winning pitcher, Turner took the loss. Baker hit 2 two-run homers, drove in 4 runs and scored 5. He broke a school record for home runs in the season. The previous record was 5. Baker now has 6 for the season, and the Wildcats still have 14 regular season games to play.  Pennington went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs.  Stanford was 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs, and Brown was also 1 for 3 with 1 RBI.

Lake Country Lutheran is now 4-5 and 3-4 in the conference. The victory gave USM a 10-0 overall record and a 7-0 conference record.  The Wildcats play another important conference game at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Brookfield Academy.