2008 Final Park National Standings

PL	TEAM	W	L	%
1	WARRIORS	16	2	0.889
2	ANGELS	13	5	0.722
3	LAKERS	10	8	0.556
4	COBRAS	10	8	0.556
5	WESLEY HOMES	10	8	0.556
6	ROCKS	9	9	0.500
7	BOMBERS	9	9	0.500
8	RIVERRATS	8	10	0.444
9	MERCHANTS	4	14	0.222
10	BLUESOX	1	17	0.056

8/12 Want to play for the Lakers or schedule a game in 09?
Email paul.samanant@honeywell.com or call 612-750-2021

 

8/10 Snakebitten again.   Lakers lose 4-3 in 12 to Commanding Edge. Bow out of state.
After a good run, the 2008 season came to a disapointing end as the Lakers lose 4-3 in 12 innings to the Tommies.   The fourth meeting between the Lakers and the Edge in 08 in was no differrent in terms of closeness of the games.   The game was also unfortunately eeriely similar to Friday night's 12 inning affair as the Lakers held a lead through a good part of the game.   Billy Diaz started and pitched well enough to hold the Tommie lineup to three runs through seven.  Sam Erickson came in and like Friday night, was pretty dominant with his usual offspeed stuff.  Also like Friday, the Lakers had a few scoring opportunities and left quite a few runners on base.

Again, as was the case Friday night, the Lakers were snakebitten coming up on the wrong end of some controversial calls by the field ump.  In the first controversial play at second, the Tommie shortstop is pulled off of the bag and then tries to tag a Laker basserunner (misses the tag)  advancing from first to second but out is called (the ump said that the fielder held the bag where he was clearly far off).

Then in the tenth inning, the most controversial call of the game.  Bistro leads off with a double.  With Ted Kimble pinch running, the Tommies put on a wheel pickoff play.  Ted appears make it back safely to second but is ruled out.  Solty argues the call and gets run.   This sequence has two critical consequences:  First, the runner at second with no one out is erased.   Second, Jared Mountain is forced into the game.  The old guy can still play but has not seen a lot of fly balls in the outfield this year.  Indeed, in the bottom of the twelfth, a misplayed fly ball results in a one out triple which would later score on a sac fly to end the game.

The loss will be remembered as Friday night's loss was - great pitching, some questionable calls, the Laker offense  once again creating enough opportunities but stranding too many runners.

The season is now done.   In a year in which  saw a rebuilt roster from 2007 with key newcomers Luke, Coop, Nate, and James, the Lake Show finished up with a strong showing but then falling short twice at state.   Right after the game,  some Lakers hung around and drank warm beer.  After those ran out, some went to Wisconsin to drink more.  With season's end, many Lakers are now off to playing touch footbball and fall softball.  Some head back to college.  Thanks to all players and fans for supporting the team.  We'll see you next year.

8/8 Heartbreaker.  Lakers lose 2-1 in 12
James Murray pitches another great game going 9 innings giving up only a single run.   Bulldogs pitchers also do a good job.  Lakers sqaunder quite a few opportunities to win the game.   In the sixth the Lakers have baserunning/coaching gaffe #1 at third resulting in critical runner thrown out at home by a mile.  In the eighth, with the score tied, the Lakers execute a perfect hit and run leaving first and third, no one out, but the bats fail to come through.   In the ninth, the Lakers get the leadoff runner on again and fail to score him.  In the tenth, the Lakers have first and second, nobody out - baserunning misfortune/gaffe 2 leads to a double play and an erased chance to win the game.   In the eleventh, the Lakers get the potential winning run to second again and gaffe 3 erases that threat.   In the twelfth, the Bulldogs get their leadoff on and score him when the Lakers fail to execute bunt defense fundamentals. 

With regards to the "gaffes" there were definately some close questionable ump calls that hurt the Lakers.  That was NOT why we lost.   Laker hitting in the face of tough Bulldog pitching  created opportunities but failure to get the big hit or put the ball in play was key factor.

In parting, kudos goes out again to James Murray in his Class A tourney debut.  After a 25 pitch first inning, Murray erased the Bulldog threat of a big inning and settled down to pitch a strong 9 innings.  Sam Erickson was tough as well in relief.

The Lakers play again at 11:00AM Sunday morning at Veteran's field where they hope to win and start a long climb back to the title game.

  8/6 Lakers Prepare For Bulldogs and State
As the Lakers ready themselves for a matchup with Riverview power Bloomington Bulldogs, Mike Merrill goes big fly against a Bulldogs pitcher in the Park National/Riverview all-star game.   Billy is a little rough in his tuneup but will be ready to bring his A game this weekend.

As far as game preview goes, there isn't much to be said about the Bulldogs except we know that they are good.  Very good.   The unfamiliarty with the Bulldogs lies partly in the fact that despite having been around for a long time, both teams have only played each other once, the result, something on the order of a one run Laker victory.   It hasn't been from lack of trying as most recent year scheduled tilts have been canceled by rainouts.   This year, while playing a game vs the Bloomington Bandits at Haddox (the game of the infamous Dickie-biffy-o-one), rain caused the Bandits to pour diamond-dry on the clay thus causing the city to close the field down and therefore scuttlling yet another scheduled Bulldog/Laker bout.  As of today, there is no rain in the forecast for Friday, so maybe the gods will let the game be played after all.

The Lakers and their starting pitcher (a closely guarded seceret) look forward to the opening shot of the 2008 tourney.    Bring it on.....

8/3 State Tourney Bracket
The Lakers enter the Class A tourney as the Park National #2 seed and play on Friday Aug 8 vs the Bloomington Bulldogs (Riverview #3), 7:15PM at Veteran's Field in Minnetonka (AKA Minnetonka High School).

The following link contains a link to download the latest and greatest state tourney info and brackets.   Check back here as teams are added.

http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=saintpaul

 

8/1 Lakers Win!  Lakers Win!  Lakers 11, Cobras 2, State here we come!!!
In the deciding game of the series, Teddy "Ballgame" Kimble came up big dialing up 7 innings of  solid pitching to lead the Lakers to the win.  Despite occasional walks or hits leading to threats put up by the Cobras, Ted never gave up the big hit or inning.  The Lakers defense came up big (as it had the whole series) and played a fairly clean game.  The Lakers threatened to break the game open in the sixth when they had bases loaded and nobody out, but the Cobras made a pitching change and were able to first get Merrill (yes Merrill) to hit into a 1-2-3 double play and then escape the inning with no runs allowed.

With a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning, when Laker second basemen Kier Palmer Klein's error (first Laker error of the series) eventually led to a bases loaded nobody-out situation, the Laker nation held its collective breath with thoughts of the Wednesday collapse on everyone's mind.  No worries as Ted pitched out of a jam, first inducing a shallow fly-out, then a K, and then a nifty play by Nate Wilson Traisman at third to snuff the snake's potential rally. From that point on, the Lakers would tack on some more runs and the game was essentially over.

On the offensive side, the Lakers pounded out many hits (did not keep count but it was a lot.....).   Luke, Merrill, Jesse all tripled (450 shot from Jesse that somehow stayed in)..  Key to the series win was consistent hitting throughout as well as the pitching performances in games 2 an 3 by starters Murray and Kimble.  Sam Erickson also stepped up in his new tourney role as reliever/closer. As mentioned, the defense came up big time and was steady in not giving up extra outs.

The :Lake Show now moves on to the Class A tourney as Park National #2 seed.   The first game is Friday Aug 8, 7:15 at Veteran's field (Minnetonka High School) vs either the Bloomington Bulldogs or Hopkins Royals (Riverview #3 seed).

7/31 Murray deals!!  Lakers force game 3....
James Murray was the story as he leads the Lakers to a 5-1 win to force game 3 on Friday night vs the Cobras.  The line:  8 IP,  1 run, 2 hits,  and had somewhere around 8Ks.   For the Cobras, Matt Germar didn't do so bad either in a game that definately had both pitchers battling against a fairly tight zone.  The Lakers did take advantage of some Cobra defensive miscues and walks but they did earn some of their runs with a few hard hit balls and an extra base hit or two.

It now comes down to one game, Friday 8:30 PM at Parade.   Winner moves on to state while the loser is done.  Game on!!!

7/30 Lakers let one get away.   Cobras 12, Lakers 9
Laker pitching doesn't quite get it done in the series opener.  The offense spotted the pitchers a 2-0 after one, but the Cobras hit and bunt their way to a 3-2 lead.  The Lakers offense then strikes back and surges to a 6-5 lead and then to a 9-5 lead after 5 innings.  This is when the total collapse takes place.  Walks, hit batters lead to the Cobras cutting the lead to 9-7 and chasing starter Billy Diaz from the game.  Erick Nelson comes in and throws eight straight balls walking two batters and another run.  The Lakers make another change to Sam Erickson but by the time he gets the final out, the Lakers trail 10-9.  The Cobras would tack on 2 more with some good hitting.   Cobra relievers would shut the Lakers offense down completely.   Kevin Truax was a thorn in Lakers all night with bunts, steals, and hits.  Lakers did hit the ball well early on but as they used to say in the Metrodome:  Walks will haunt and the free passes were the key factor that turned the game against the Lakers.

The pitching is now going to have to get well in a hurry or it will be over fast.   Next game is Wednesday night 8:30 at Parade.

 

7/29 Lakers vs Cobras

The Lakers take on the Cobras in a 2/3 series.  Winner moves on to the Class A state tourney.   Preview:  The teams split in league play, Lakers winning the first game 7-2 with the Cobras taking the second game 3-0.   The Cobras also won a third game played between the two teams at the Stockman's tourneys.   In that loss, the Cobras scored just enough runs to knock the Lakers all the way from the championship round to an 11:00AM start third place game.   The resulting Sunday morning game had particularly irked the Lakers although the men in blue need no other incentive than to win a series they feel they can in order to move on to state.

The Cobras do have a track record for success in postseason play with a few state tourney appearances while the Lakers have made it to the big show once in 1999.  Many prognosticators are predicting 2-0 Cobras sweep.   They are led this year by the lefty old timer Matt Germar who appears to be pitching better than ever.

To the prognosticators, the Lakers are saying "not so fast" and feel confident about the series.    Despite a couple of key losses for the 2008 season (Case and Simkins), the Lakers have retooled from a miserable 2007 and despite an up and down season, are fairly healthy and deep enough in arms.   The Laker pitching consisting of Billy Diaz, James Murray, Sam Erickson, Ted Kimble, Erik Nelson, Nate-Wilson Traisman, and Luke Mullerleille sports enough quality and innings to win a 2/3 series.   The return of infielders Nate Wilson Traisman and Devin English off the DL should bolster and solidy the infield which will be needed to beat a team like the Cobras.   Newcomer Luke Muellerlielle has stabilized the Lakers at shortstop while as always, MVP Mike Merrill holds the fort down in center.   The Laker lineup has also retooled from 2007 and has shown the capability to put up some runs against some top teams.  With the Bistro appearing to have recovered from a hand injury, the Laker offense regains some power that has been absent during the season.

The Lakers look forward to a fun and competitive series.  The schedule is as follows:

Game 1:  Wednesday July 30, 6:15 at Parade

Game 2:  Thursday July 31, 8:30 at Parade

Game 3: Friday or Saturday at Parade, time TBD if necessary

Winner to state tourney.

 

7/25 Laker All Stars Named

Mike Merrill and Billy Diaz have been named to represent the Lakers in the 2008 Minneview All-Star game.  The game will be played at 7:00PM on Tue Aug 5 at Veteran's Field (Mtka High School).

7/24 Lakers Beat Merchants 10-1.  2/3 playoffs next.  

Led by yet another strong performance by  Sam Erickson, the Lake Show down the Merchants 10-1 on a perfect summer night at Parade.   Maybe the bigger story is the Lakers emergence from "the pack" from out of almost nowhere to seize third place and a bye.

In the wild and wacky world of Park National parity, after the Angels and Pub charged ahead, despite 6 teams in the race, Lakers were seemingly left for dead a couple of weeks ago.  With Lakers pitching and depth on the 15-day DL, teams such as the Rocks, Rats, Bombers, Homies, or Cobras appeared to be just a couple of wins away from snagging the final spot.  Whatever, but after the smoke cleared late Tuesday, it became apparent that a win Thursday would clinch third and the Lakers did just that.

Next up, a few days off until the 2/3 playoffs where the Lakers appear headed for a matchup with the Cobras - unless the Bluesox or Merchants pull off an upset.   Then the Lakers could face another Park National team TBD.    The games are as follows:

Game 1:  Wednesday July 30, 6:15 at Parade

Game 2:  Thursday July 31, 8:30 at Parade

Game 3: Friday Aug 1, 6:15 at Parade (if necessary)

Winner to state tourney.

7/22 Walks and runners left on hurt Lakers in 8-3 loss to the Millers.

Lakers out-hit, had less errors but fall to the Millers 8-3.  Millers took advantage of the walks as I believe 6 of the walks came around to score.  They only had 7 hits and at one point had 7 runs on 5 hits.  The Lakers had 11 hits and reached on 3 errors but stranded quite a few runners and hit into 2 or 3 DP's.  Teddy settled down after walking the first 3 hitters and James threw 15 pitches in 1 and 2/3 an inning.  Merrill hit the ball well, collecting another 3 hits, and Bistro, Calm and Luke all got good wood on the ball.  One game left before playoffs and the lakers could finish anywhere from 3rd to 7th in league.

7/18 Lakers take out EP in an hour and 20 minutes 3-1. (Good on a fri night)

James and Erickson combined for 9 K's in 7 innings as James goes 2 continuing his rehab and Sammy gets the W throwing the last 5.  James also tripled in the 2nd inning and came in on a KPK RBI.  Reichert also had an RBI.  Not much else really happened in the game.  Lakers were just glad it was a quick game and that the squirrel chaser didn't shut off the lights in the middle of an AB.

7/17 Lakers can't get the bats going and lose to Prior Lake 10-0.

Marshall pitched well for Prior Lake and EZ settled down after a 4 run first to throw 5 good innings.  Prior Lake had only a few well hit balls, but were able to get clutch hits with runners in scoring position.  Solt almost got into it as with a 9 run lead in the bottom of the 8th a prior lake guy leans into a 50 mph curve thrown by calm, that would have been a strike.  Solty called the guy out and the ump didn't grant him 1st.  He struck out looking, deservedly so.  After the game Solt went to shake his hand and he pulled back like a little kid.  Words were said but cooler heads prevailed.

7/16 Lakers come back to beat SPPD 5-3.

Teddy makes his 3rd appearance at the Tommies field, but this time it is against the SPPD.  SPPD had a libro at 2nd base, which in VB terms is a player who only plays defense, in the SPPD case it is a guy with only a blue jersey when the team is wearing white.  SPPD got some good hits early in the game but the Lakers were able to come back late and take the lead in the top of the 7th.  Merrill triples home the tying run, 2nd triple of the game and then Clark bloops one over the 2nd baseman's head for the go ahead run.  Clark then gets his 2nd steal of the game and then makes a horrible baserunning mistake by running with only 1 out on a line drive to center.  He lucks out and the CF is not able to make the running catch and scores an insurance run. 

7/13 Lakers beat the Rats 5-2

The Lakers get 4 of their runs on 3 wild pitches/passed balls.  They also play good defense behind Billy who looked good in the complete game victory.  Lakers put the presure on and got quite a few baserunners but definately took advantage of some mis-plays by the Rats.

7/11 Hastings game cancelled due to pending storm.

The weather looked bad so Hastings officials called the game prior to the start.  It looked like we could play a little ball so we had a quick scrimmage.  Ended up getting 5 innings with a little time left.  Clark had 2 RBI and 2 Runs. 

7/9 Lakers lose in the bottom of the 7th to the Tommies 9-8.

Rubber match.  Lakers up late again against the Tommies.  Unfortunately this time the Tommies get a walk off single in the bottom of the 7th to take the series 2-1.

7/8 Lakers beat Blue Sox 11-6. 

Lakers take an early 5-0 lead after 1, but the blue sox take advantage of a couple walks and a few errors on the Lakers. 

7/1 Lakers lose to Merchants 3-2

Not a good game.  Lakers couldn't get the bats going and the Merchants played good defense.  Lakers had a chance at the end but couldn't pull it out.

6/30 Lakers struggle again in the field and lose to the Rocks 6-5.

 Rocks go up 3-0 and the Lakers come back to make it 5-3.  The Lakers give up one more in the 5th to make it 5-4 and one in the 6th to make it 5-5.  Lakers cant cross any in the last 3 innings of the game.  In the bottom of the 7th with Friedman on the mound the first rock gets a single to left.  The next rock trys to bunt and pops it up to Solty for the out.  A wild pitch allows the runner to advance to second.  Two ptiches later there is a pitch in the dirt and rolls towards 3rd after Solts block.  The runner trys to take 3rd and Solt fires it to 3rd.  The throw is a little low and Coop is unable to knock it down and the winning run crosses the plate for the Rocks. 

6/29 Lakers come up short against St Thomas 4-3.

Another morning game and again the Lakers aren't exactly on time.  But in this case they are playing St Thomas and they are even later.  Neither team is ready to take infield and the umpires are late as well.  Teddy starts for the Lakers and throws well almost getting a complete game, 6 and 2/3, after throwing only 2 and 1/3 innings coming into the game.  He threw quite a few pitches as he walked 8 batters on the day but is able to get out of a few jams and strands 10 runners.  Lakers trail 4-1 going into the bottom of the 7th inning.  They get 2 runs and have runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs.  Nate works the count full and fouls off the next pitch.  Then the pitcher goes up and in, a ball the catcher has to reach to catch and kinda bailed on.  The umpire flinched or something, maybe closed his eyes, and called the pitch a strike.  You know it is a bad call when the opposing team, who gets the win because of the call, tells you that you got hosed on the call.  The umpire knew he screwed it up as he just walked off the field and wouldn't say anything.  Solty had the line of the day as the ump was trying to walk off the field, "How about I pay you $10 and we can go out there and finish the game.  Needless to say the Lakers go 1-2 and take last place in the Stockman's with the same record they took 2nd in the prior lake tourney 2 years ago.

6/28 Lakers lose to Cobras 6-3

Reichert starts on the mound for the Lakers and maybe made his last pitching outing of the season.  As he leaves the game after 3 innings with elbow pain.  After Reichert the Lakers used a couple of position players to pitch, Luke and Friedman.  Both pitched well but it was obvious that they hadn't pitched in a little while.  The Lakers got runners on but couldn't get them across the plate as they stranded 12 runners in the 7 innings.  All three teams in the pool went 1-1 in pool play.  The Lakers lost the tie-breaker and got to play again in the early game.

6/28 Lakers come back for the 2nd straight game to beat Park 8-7.

Lakers have to play the first game on sat morn at 11 am.  Needless to say a couple of the Lakers were late showing up for the game.  Including Nate and Dev going north from Mac when the games are in SOUTH St Paul.  Easy starts on the mound and is a little hit or miss but keeps the Lakers in the game.  Nate comes in after Easy to shut down the big hitting Park line up to get the win.  Bistro was not feeling well and in the bottom of the 5th inning decides its time.  He goes behind the dugout and induces himself to vomit.  The good thing is he came up later inning and hit an RBI infield single.  Another highlight of the morning is Alex "Oh Baby," "Rube" Rubenstein legs out an infield single slightly straining his quad.  He comes to the dugout and says "if it pops does that mean it pulled?"  Somebody asks him what happened and he states "I did something to my something."  Welcome to the world that is Lakers baseball.

6/26 Lakers come back on Homies and win 7-6.

Lakers fall behind the Homies early 6-0.  The Homies seemed to get everything to fall in the first three innings of the game, even the balls hit at the Lakers were hit too softly to get the outs.  In the 6th the Lakers bats came alive and they got 3 runs.  Sam Erickson was able to keep the Lakers in teh game even without his best stuff early.  But he is able to stay in the game and get the complete game win.  In the 7th trailing 6-3 Friedman leads off with a single and Merrill follows with a single of his own.  Clark comes up and hits an RBI double to left and the runners are at 3rd and the tying run at 2nd.  Homies bring in Paulie O from CF to P and that forces them to bring Cody Ching into RF.  Dev Dev lines out and now and then Nate singles to RF scoring to Merrill.  Bistro comes up and hits a single to RF easily scoring the tying run.  Nate easily goes from 1st to 3rd but Cody in RF throws through to 3rd and sails the 3rd baseman the back up and clears the fence for a walk off throwing error.

6/23 Air Freight 8 Lakers 3

Lakers kinda played to suit as of late in losing their 4th straight game.  Pitchers struggled to find the strike zone early and the balls that were hit hard by the lakers happend to be hit right at the defense.  Merrill had to leave the game early after twisting his ankle in the worst outfield in the city at Concordia St Paul.  If you have never been there the OF basically has 2 small hills.  EZ pitched in relief and after struggling in his first inning he found his curve ball and held Air Freight scoreless for the last 2.  Next up is the homies after 2 days off, the first of 7 games in 6 days.

6/22 Angels 7 Lakers 4

The rare weekend afternoon game found the Lakers facing the veteran Angels.  The Lakers vet Billy Diaz threw for the Lakers and went 5 innings and threw pretty well.  Bats were quite again, but Merrill did get another triple. Friedman got on a couple times and was 2 for 2 on SB.  Ode hit a HR for the Angels but at least it was only a solo shot.  Lakers were able to grill after the game and had a good time hanging out for about 2 hours in the parking lot.  Angels not a team to leave the parking lot first were heard saying - "We could be out drinking by the pool but no we are drinking in a f-ing parking lot."

6/20 Pub 10, Lakers 0

Another night the Lakers couldn't get the bats going.  Teddy started on the hill and struggled to find the strike zone lasting only 1/3 of an inning.  Erickson came in after and also struggled to find the strike zone.  After the pub were able take advantage of the Lakers walks and errors in the first couple innings for 6 run they started hitting the ball pretty well able to get to 10 and end the game in 5.  Not much else to say.  KPK returned and we have an afternoon game on sunday.

6/18 Cobras 3, Lakers 0

In a rematch in starting pitchers from the first Laker/Cobra game of the year the pitching was Germar vs Murray.  Cobras got 3 unearned runs in the first and that is all they needed as Germar was very effective, allowing some baserunners but stranding all of them.  Bistro had to leave the game in the 4th inning, after a rundown ended the cobra sliding into first and Bistro's calf. 

6/17 Lakers 16, Bombers 0

Lakers got the bats going with 2 triples and 5 doubles on the day.  Merrill and Reichart had the triples and Luke could have had a triple but ended up satisfied with the double.  Billy threw the complete game shutout in 5 innings keeping the Bombers off balance.  Lakers crossed 2 runners in the 2nd inning, 6 in the 4th and 8 in the 5th to allow the game to end in 5 innings.

6/14 Lakers 7, Hopkins 3

Lakers showed up ready for the 2 pm game the unfortunate thing is that the berries and the ump knew that the game didn't start until 2:30.  Erickson started on the hill and threw 8 strong innings giving up some hits, 13 to be exact, but stranded 14 base runners in the 8 innings. 

6/13 Lakers 12, St. Paul Rangers 1

Lakers win 12-1 against a first year team in the rangers.  Lakers took advantage of some walks and a couple ranger errors to get there 12 runs in 5 innings.  Bmac started and recorded 8 strikeouts in 5 innings.  The 30 year old states that is the most strikeouts he has had in a game since highschool.

6/10  Lakers set club record for errors.  Fall to Rocks 9-6.

The Lakers hit the ball pretty well and were able to pepper Rocks starter Nate cousins pretty hard.   However the Rocks played solid D and limited the run-damage that the Lakers could inflict.    The Lakers did not help themselves with very foolish base-running and basecoaching gaffes that left runners being thrown out by a mile.    The Lakers brought their A pitching to the table  (Diaz and Murray) but the defense did nothing to help the cause by giving extra outs to the Rocks in just about every inning and every way possible.   This level of defense was uncharacteristic and definately a disapointment. With this loss, the Lakers fail in an opportunity to take control  of second place near the top of Park National standings.

Up next for the Lakeshow are a couple of weekend tuneup bouts vs the St. Paul Rangers and riverview power Hopkins before a return to a slew of key league games next week.

6/09  Lakers finally beat Commanding Edge 4-2

Lakers defeat Commanding Edge at UST field snapping a  winless streak vs the Tommies.   In a series that spans well over a decade, the Lakers have have come close but have never won.   This win leaves the Millers as the sole team that the Lakers have had a longstanding series with and have never beaten.   The Lakers have come within a run and have even tied the Millers in 2006 but have never won.   They hope to end that streak when the teams meat later in July.

6/04 - Lakers/Bulldogs Game Cancelled Due to Field Maintenance Issues

6/03 - Lakers 9, Riverats 3

24 hours after a frustrating offensive outing, the Lakers bats finally come to life in a 9-3 win over the "improved" River Rat attack.   The pitching that the Lakers faced was actually pretty good as the Rats ran out some hard throwers that hit spots and changed speeds.  The Lakers did benefit from timely hitting including a two run scoring double by Jesse Calm who in post-game interviews attributed his turnaround to bat selection.   James Murray returned from a mini-vacation and pitched another 6 strong innings giving up 0 earned runs.  BMac closed out the game which for some reason felt really long (maybe because it was a long game).  Wednesday, if the weather holds off, the Lakers return to Red Haddox to face off against another Bloomington team and to see if Dickie (back from date night) can repeat his biff-port-o-feat.

6/02 - Angels 3, Lakers 2

For his second straight outing Billy Diaz pitches a strong game only to come on the short end of a pitchers duel.   Billy's faceoffs with Chad Naegli go back a few years to when the Lakers squared off against the old Coon Rapids team.  Fast forward to 2008, Naegli appears to have regained some old form.   For his part, Billy seems to be gradually recovering nicely from arm surgery that derailed him for much of the 2006-2007 season.   The Lakers also saw the return or Devin English to third base, the effect of which, for the first time in a very long solidifies the infield defense.   In the end, the Lakers could not  muster up enough offense to put the needed runs.  Diaz tired late and the Laker bullpen (Reichert) got behind early and often.

5/30 - Lakers come back to beat Bandits7-6

B-mac starts his second game in 2 days and pitches 3 solid innings keeping the Lakers in the game.  Tommy Mack and Dickie throw the last 4 innings as the lakers come back from down 6-1.  Calm hits one off the top of the fence in left center for a couple RBIs starting the comeback.  Play of the day, and yes this did happen, In the 5th inning Dickie hit a foul ball down the third bas line.  The ball hits the Port-o-John but doesn't bounce anywhere.  A fan near the outhouse said that the ball went down the 3 inch diameter chimney of the John.  No one believed that this could actually happen until after the game when the Lakers were having a few beers and Dickie went to Biff and confirmed that the baseball was in the sewage.  After the game Rube is quoted as saying -"I am glad no-one was struck by lightning and I am glad the Rube knee was not hurt on the last play of the game."

5/29 - Lakers and Merchants rain out

B-mac has no-hitter going when game is called due to Rain.  Reichert has his first error of the year, which he later stated shouldn't count as the game didnt count.  Solty confirmed the error will be in our stats.

5/28 - Lakers shut out in 5, 10-0 to the Shark.

Lakers cant get the bats going and the Shark hit the ball pretty well to hand the Lakers their first shutout loss of the season. Merrill keeps showing his speed with 2 steals of third, unfortunately he was stranded at third both times.

5/27 - Lakers shut out Bombers 4-0.

Lakers get a great pitching outing from Sam Erickson as he goes the distance to get the 4-0 complete game shut out.  Lakers played well defensively which was helped out by Sam pitching ahead and working quickly.  Total game time was 1 hr and 25 min.  Bombers were held to 3 hits and only 1 after the first 2 hitters both got hits.  Lakers offense was good but not great.  Solty and Case both had extra base hits as Case's was the high point offensively.  Bottom of the 6th and first two batters reach base Case is trying to decide to bunt or swing away.  He made the right decision driving the ball to the right center gap bringing in both base  runners.  That was more than enough for Sam as he had the Bombers off balance all night.

5/22 - Lakers grind out 5-4 win over Homies.

Lakers leave a lot of men on base but come away with the 5-4 victory over the Homies.  Bistro went big fly to lead off the 4th inning and the Lakers used 4 pitchers to get the win for the Ledgend Alex Case.  Lakers had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th inning.  The Homies got a runner to 3rd with 2 outs and then a hard grounder allows the tying run to score.  Both teams had chances in the 8th and 9th but no runners crossed the plate.  In the 10th the 2 lead off hitters for the Lakers get on and Luke lays down a sac bunt to get the runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out.  Reichert comes up and laces a single to center to take the 5-3 lead.  Homies get one off of Wilson-Traisman in the bottom of the 10th but it wasn't enough as the Lakers pull out the victory.

5/20 - Lakers bats finally get going in 14-2 victory over the Blue Sox.

Nate Wilson-Traisman makes his Laker debut a good one with 3 hits including a HR.  Bistro, Cooprider and Merrill all had good games offensively as well with Merrill just the HR away from the cicle.  Erickson and Diaz split the game pitching and were able to silence the Blue Sox bats.  Blue Sox were up 1-0 after 2 but then the Lakers scored 3 in the 3rd and 11 in the 4th to get to their 14 runs. 

5/19 - Another rainout

5/14 -Lakers fall to pub 2-1

Lakers lose a close pitchers dual 2-1.  More to come.

5/12 -Lakers beat Cobras 7-2

James Murray makes his Laker debut a good one as he only surrendered one earned run in a complete game victory.  A little confusion to the start time as the coaches and this website all reported a 6:15 start.  As the lakers are hitting in the cage, and Mountains undefeated Southwest HS team gets another win, the merchants show up stating that they have the 6:15 game.  A couple phone calls are made and it is discovered the game time is not until 8:30.   Once the Lakers finally take the field they are able to score 7 runs on only one extra base hit, by taking advantage of a couple walks and a few Cobras errors.  Lakers next action is wed night 8:30 at Parade Stadium.

5/8 -Lakers open up with 8-7 Win over Rosetown

Lakers start strong scoring 3 runs in each of the first 2 innings to take a 6-0 lead.  Rosetown comes back to make the score 6-4 before the Lakers put 2 more on the board.  In the bottom of the 6th Rosetown puts 3 across the plate to bring the score to 8-7.   Billy Diaz threw the 3rd-5th and looked good in his 2008 debut. 

5/6 -Lakers opener rained out