The Red Birds and Henderson Tigers met at Chanhassen High School Stadium tonight to complete the game that was suspended on Tuesday night due to weather, and the Chanhassen locals came away with a tough victory, 4-2.

On a much better night for baseball, with the sky clear and the fans returning to Storm Red Bird Stadium, Adam Heitz returned to the mound to start the 5th inning.  After an easy ground out to SS Zach Neubauer and Heitz getting C Dan Endres for his 8th K of the game, LF Matt Nagel lined a single to LF.  RF Ryan Henke then drew a walk. 2B Troy Koester then lined a single up the middle to score Nagel from 2nd and tie the score at 1-1.  The boistrous Hendrson fans were ready for another come from behind playoff victory.

But the Red Birds silenced the Tiger cheers in the bottom of the 5th.  C Zach Swenson looped a double down the RF line.  CF Casey Malgren lined one up the middle to advance Swenson to 3B.  RF Jeff Pavlovich then hit a sharp single to CF that scored Swenson and moved Malmgren to 3B.   DH Cary McLaughlin then hit a grounder to SS to get Pavlovich on a fielder's choice but drove in Malmgren from 3rd for what would be the game winning RBI.  After McLaughlin stole 2B, Tiger starter and losing pitcher Mat Peot caught Nick Brenner looking at 3rd strike to end the inning with the Red Birds ahead 3-1.

Luke Penovich relieved Heitz on the mound at the top of the 6th inning and gave up two consecutive singles to Dan Dahn and Luke Frauendienst.  A SAC bunt by Cody Boelter moved both runners into scoring position.  DH Greg Graham then worked Penovich for a walk to load the bases with 1 out.  C Dan Endres then launched a SAC fly to right field to plate Dan Dahn easily and moved the runners up to 2B and 3B.  Penovich then got Nagel on a pop foul ball to Gulden at 3B to end the inning and the threat by the Tigers.

Penovich got two quick fly ball outs in the top of the 7th and after a walk to 3rd baseman, Chase Boehne, got Dan Dahn for the 9th strike out for the Red Birds.  

Penovich then stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 7th and worked Peot for a walk.  Peot got Pavlovich looking at strike three for the 1st out of the inning.  McLaughlin then drilled a liner to right field on a hit-and-run play that moved Penovich to 3B with a head first slide.  McLaughlin then stole 2B for the second time.  With two out and two men in scoring position, Tony Marengo laced a single to center field scoring Penovich easily, but the on target throw from Frauendienst in CF to Endres at the plate got McLaughlin for the 3rd out to end the inning with the Red Birds on top, 4-2

Penovich almost breezed through the 8th getting a fly ball out to RF and fanning PH Kirby Weckworth for 2 quick outs.  DH Graham then launched a fly ball to deep right center field and after a long run by Malmgren, Casey slightly overran the ball and it glanced off his chest, landing on the warning track for the only error of the entire game.  With Graham on 2nd and the Henderson fans cheering for some late inning heroics, Penovich got Endres to fly out lazily to Malmgren in left center to end the 8th inning.

Frauendienst replaced Peot on the mound to start the 8th and retired the Red Birds in order with a ground out to short, a strike out and fly out to RF.

Penovich was rock solid in the 9th getting Nagel on a fly to right, Ryan Henke on ground out to 3rd, and then retired 2nd baseman and manager Troy Koester on an easy bounce back to the pitcher himself to send the Red Birds to their 3rd elimination game in the 2010 playoffs.

Heitz got the win with 8 Ks, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 BB.  Penovich earned the save working 4 innings allowing just 2 hits and 3 BB while strking out 2 Tiger batters.

Swenson had two doubles in 4 at bats and scored a run in the 5th. Malmgren was 2-4 with a run scored; Pavlovich was 2-4 with an RBI in the 5th.  McLaughlin was 1-4 with two stolen bases and the GWRBI in the 5th inning. Marengo was 2-4 and drove in the Penovich insurance run for the Red Birds in the bottom of the 7th.  Neubauer and Gulden each singled with Gulden getting the run on a wild pitch during the storm battered second inning on Tuesday night.

Red Birds now face the Le Sueur Braves on Thursday night, July 29th at Bruce Frank Field in Le Sueur for a 7:30 PM Start.  The winner of that elimination game then travels to Belle Plaine on Saturday to meet the Tigers at Tiger Park for the RVL Central Division Championship.