Birds unable to gain win despite late rallies

Joe Melles doubled twice in Chester

Bird's 3-3 tie with Andover.

Chester Bird rallied late in both of its games on the opening day of the Jim Hanus Gopher Classic, but neither resulted in a victory as The Birds played to a five-inning, 5-5 tie with Andover before dropping a 7-5 decision to Forest Lake.

The first game of the day for the hosts saw Chester Bird fall behind by three runs in the top of the first inning. However, The Birds eventually tied the game with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning before rain and lightning halted the game.

With the game having reached five innings, it was declared official and tournament rules dicted that the next scheduled game be played once play resumed.

A three-run third inning got Forest Lake out to an early lead and the Rangers would take a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh before a five-run rally by Chester Bird fell short.

Willie Falk started game one for The Birds and early control problems proved costly as he walked two batters and hit another among the first four Huskies he faced. A pair of base hits later gave Andover a 3-0 lead but, after the Huskies' first six batters, Falk shut the visitors out.

Chester Bird got two runs back in the bottom of the third inning when Marcus Barone received a one-out walk. Keaton Studsrud followed with a double down the left field line. Jimmy Heck then hit a ground-rule double to right field to get The Birds back to within a run of the lead.

In the fifth inning, Studsrud was hit by a pitch to open the inning and Jimmy Heck singled down the right field line. Joe Melles  followed with a double to tie the score and put the potential go-ahead run on third base with no out.

However, Andover's Brent Stong recorded a pair of strikeouts and got out of the jam with a foulout and the game was halted as the teams came off the field.

Falk allowed just four hits but issued seven walks over five innings while striking out two for The Birds, who got six of their seven hits from Studsrud, Heck and Melles, each of whom had two. All three doubled with Melles recording a pair of extra-base hits.

Michael Kaminski took the mound in game two and saw three errors lead to a pair of unearned runs in Forest Lake's three-run third inning.

Execution led to the Rangers' fourth run in the fourth inning as a single, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly extended the visitors' lead.

Forest Lake then added two more runs in the sixth inning and Scott Quinby had to come on in relief, striking out the only batter he faced in the frame to get out of a jam.

A double and a single to open the seventh inning resulted in a 7-0 lead for the Rangers before Chester Bird mounted its comeback off Joe Vacinek, who came on in relief of starter Philip Sauer after he had held the hosts scoreless on four hits, including four and two-thirds innings of no-hit work.

Jimmy Cron walked to lead off the inning ahead of back-to-back singles by John Backes and Robby Sutherland. A wild pitch would result in Cron scoring and a walk to Sam Lynch, one out later, would reload the bases.

Dan Labosky then laced a triple to the gap in right-center field to end Vacinek's outing and bring on Trenten Rabel, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Studsrud. Heck then reached on an error to bring Melles to the plate as the potential tying run but Rabel induced a ground out to get out of the inning and record the save.

Chester Bird returns to action with two more games Saturday, taking on Ash Port at 3:30 p.m. with the final game of the day versus West Fargo to follow at 6 p.m.