2013
Northfield Legion River Rats come from behind to beat Prior Lake, 14-10
With the score tied at 10, Tommy McDonald came to the plate and singled, scoring Cody Polzin. Tommy had a hot bat for Northfield Legion River Rats. Tommy went 2-7, drove in one and scored two runs. The two teams combined for 24 runs and 32 hits, including six extra base hits. Relief pitchers got their fill of innings during the game, with the opposing managers using 10 pitchers in total. Eli Patrikus recorded the win for Northfield Legion River Rats. He pitched one shutout inning. He struck out one, walked none and surrendered no hits. Northfield Legion River Rats was sparked by Taylor Freiermuth and Nate "The Great" Picha, who teamed up for five hits and eight RBIs. In the top of the first, Northfield Legion River Rats grabbed the early lead, 1-0. Northfield Legion River Rats got things going when Jake "Gerber" Mathison singled. Prior Lake answered Northfield Legion River Rats' top inning with one run of its own in the first. Prior Lake scored on an RBI double by Tyler Edwards. Northfield Legion River Rats brought home one run in the second inning, and matched that run total in the third. In the second, Northfield Legion River Rats scored on an RBI single by Taylor, bringing home Thomas Zenk. After posting two runs in the fourth, Northfield Legion River Rats again scored two in the ninth. In the fourth, Northfield Legion River Rats scored on an RBI double by Nate "The Great", plating Taylor. Prior Lake pushed across two runs in both the fifth inning and the ninth. In the fifth, Prior Lake scored on an RBI single by Eric Tusa, scoring Jonesy Buesher. After a quick strike from Northfield Legion River Rats, Prior Lake responded with two runs in the ninth. Prior Lake scored on a sacrifice fly by Jonesy and a sacrifice fly by Eric.
This game was back and forth. We executed a suicide squeeze with sophomores Polzin and McDonald. We also had timely hitting by Picha and Fry. Everyone chipped in on this high energy game.
Northfield Legion River Rats's Jake "Gerber" Mathison comes through in the clutch, upends Oklahoma, 5-4
Jake "Gerber" Mathison drove in the go-ahead run to give Northfield Legion River Rats the lead in the ninth inning, as Northfield Legion River Rats hung on to beat Oklahoma 5-4 on Saturday. Marcus "The Cat" Nelson singled to get on base in the ninth. He then went from first to second on a passed ball. Alex Donkers worked out of 13 tough spots for Northfield Legion River Rats. He pitched nine innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. Alex Donkers faced his trickiest spot in the ninth inning. The top of the first saw Northfield Legion River Rats take an early lead, 2-0. Jake "Gerber" got things going for Northfield Legion River Rats with a double. An error then moved Jake "Gerber" from second to third. Thomas Zenk singled, scoring Jake "Gerber" and Nate "The Great" Picha. Oklahoma tied the game in the sixth on an RBI single by #18 that scored #13.
This was our last game in Omaha. Their coach got tossed in a controversial call on a catcher's interference. The ump made the incorrect call that went in our favor to take the lead in the 9th. Donkers pitched with fire and energy to get the win and give us a chance to make it out of our pool in this tough tournament.
2012
Picha gives Northfield River Rats late push to beat Eagan, 4-3
Nate "The Great" Picha brought home the go-ahead run to give Northfield River Rats the lead in the eighth inning, as Northfield River Rats hung on to beat Eagan 4-3 on Wednesday. Nick Bornhauser singled to start the eighth. He then went from first to third. Finally, Picha came to the plate with the score tied at three, and hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Bornhauser. Tim Maus handled Eagan's lineup with ease, racking up seven strikeouts. Maus allowed three earned runs, five hits and three walks over 7 1/3 innings. Alex Donkers got the win in relief for Northfield River Rats. Donkers pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed no runs. In the top of the first, Eagan grabbed the early lead, 2-0. A two-run home run by #24, bringing home #5 started the inning off. After posting one run in the fourth, Northfield River Rats again scored one in the eighth. In the fourth, Northfield River Rats scored on a sacrifice fly by Aldon Severson, scoring Bornhauser. Northfield River Rats answered Eagan's top inning with two runs of its own in the seventh. Northfield River Rats scored on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Adam Yetzer. This game was the first game of Districts and played at Dundas. A historic year for the Rats solidified by beating a Top 10 team in the State.
2011
Chanhassen 6-5 Win District Tournament
Tim Maus was a gamer today pitching 10 innings on around 130 pitches. He was determined to finish the game. Tied 5-5 with 1 out in the 10th Tim was on the mound with Chanhassen's best hitter at the plate with the go ahead run at 3rd. We decided to pitch around him with all curveballs, and on the 2nd curveball he hit a comebacker to Tim who made the play at first and keep the runner at 3rd. He got the next guy to ground out and we won it in the 10th on a walk off to make it to the final day of the district tournament for the 2nd year in a row. We will face Lakeville North tomorrow.
Edina 4-3 Win
An exciting game and the most exciting ending this year for the Rats. As the home team Tim Maus pitched outstanding and put up a 0 in the top of the 7th. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the inning Kyle Kuhn led off with a single to left, with 1 out Aldon Severson executed a hit and run perfectly with a base hit to right sending Kuhn to 3rd. With Adam Yetzer at the plate on a 0-1 count we executed the suicide squeeze perfectly for a walk off hit and a big win to put us in a good situation for the tournament. Edina went on to win the State Tournament the following year with many of the same players.
Nick Bornhauser 2 for 4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI's
Aldon Severson 2 for 4, double
Kyle Kuhn 1 for 2, 2 runs, 2 Sacs
Tim Maus 7 inn, 3ER, 8hits, 0walkes, 4K's, Win
2010
District, South St. Paul 11-9 Win
A rollercoaster type of game with a lot of emotions ended up going the Rats way. Nick Bornhauser's huge game lifted the Rats into the final day of the tournament. However, it was Luke Reppe who got the hit of his career. In a tie game 9-9 in the 7th with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, Reppe lined a double into the gap to score Benjamin and Bornhauser. With the 2 run lead we turned to our Ace, Jackson Meland to shut the door.
Nick Bornhauser 3 for 3, 2 runs,double,triple, 2 BB's, 5RBI's
Scott Benjamin 2 for 3, 3 runs, RBI, 2.67 innings, Win
Kyle Kuhn 2 for 4, 2 runs, BB
2009
Red Wing 3-2 Win
Cody Schmidt 2 for 3, 2 RBI's
Eric Pittman 1 for 2, run, triple, walk
Luke Ramsay 1 for 3, run
Mark Beaver, Win, 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 walks, 6 K's, 2 earned runs
Most of the action happened in the bottom of the 6th and top of the 7th. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 6th Pittman lead off with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch. With 2 outs and nobody on Dahl hit a single, Scott Snesrud ran for him and stole 2nd and later scored on Schmidts base hit. In the top of the 7th Red Wing had a single and then a triple to lead off the inning. With no outs and a guy on third Scott Benjamin made a Red Wing hitter pop up to left, the next hitter hit a shot to Pittman at 2nd and we doubled off the runner at thrid to end the game. A huge win for the Rats as they get another win in league play.
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