Birds fall twice in Hopkins Summer Classic

Chester Bird pitcher Willie Falk

Chester Bird dropped a pair of games, 3-1 to Excelsior and 4-2 to Tri-City Red, to open play on the first day of the Hopkins Summer Classic.

In the opener, The Birds got a stellar pitching performance from Willie Falk, who needed just 70 pitches while tossing a six-hitter. However, he and Matt Ambre collected the only hits for Chester Bird.

Twelve strikeouts by The Birds countered eight walks issued by Excelsior pitchers Anders Samuelson and Matt Behounek. In picking up the save, Behounek walked on and allowed a hit but got all six of his outs via strikeouts.

After falling behind, 3-0, through two innings, Chester Bird got its lone run in the third inning when Robby Sutherland led off with a walk. A passed ball and an error moved him to third base and he scored from there on a wild pitch.

Falk finished the game by issuing just one walk and facing the minimum 13 batters over his final four and one-third innings. That sixth-inning walk was the only free pass he issued and he fanned five in six innings of work.

Mikey McGill took the mound in game two and did not allow an earned run in six innings but, despite allowing just three hits, five walks and a pair of errors behind him led to three unearned runs.

After Tri-City scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning, The Birds responded with two runs in the top of the second as Joe Melles led off with a walk and Gabe MacDonald followed by knocking an 0-2 pitch through the left side of the infield for a hit.

With one out, John Backes hit a ball back to the mound which Red pitcher Karl Elfstrom threw into center field trying to retire MacDonald at second, a play which allowed Melles to score. McGill then walked to load the bases and, with two out, Elfstrom committed a balk to bring home the second run.

Tri-City tacked on another unearned run in the third inning and picked up an insurance run off relief pitcher Marshall Hoemke in the sixth.

Chester Bird returns to action tomorrow when it faces Oakdale, at 4:30 pm, and Wayzata, at 7 pm, to conclude round-robin play in the tournament. The top four teams will advance to single-elimination play Sunday.