Bottom of lineup ignites Chester Bird offense

Matt Ambre had two hits, walked once and drove in a run.

Chester Birds' five through nine hitters scored six runs, drove in five and led The Birds to a 7-1 win over Rosemount in the opening game of the Moose Country Invitational at Henry Sibley High School.

With the heart of its order absent as Jimmy Heck and Joe Melles participated in the Lions' All-Star Game, the Chester Bird lineup was drastically different than normal but the bottom of the lineup wasted no time in contributing.

Robby Suthlerand, who moved from the nine spot to the fifth spot in the batting order, led off the second inning with a walk. Matt Ambre subsequently moved him to second base with a sacrifice bunt and Sam Lynch's base hit past first base drove in the game's first run.

A wild pitch moved Lynch to second base and, with two out, Chris Racchini reached base on an error to extend the inning. Dan Labosky then followed by hustling out an infield hit on which Lynch scored the second run.

In the third inning, Ambre and Michael Kaminski picked up RBI singles, sandwiched around Sutherland scoring on a wild pitch and The Birds were on top, 5-0.

Rosemount scored an unearned run in the fourth inning but The Birds scored a pair of insurance runs in the fifth when Ambre led off with an infield single and Lynch bunted for a hit. Kaminski's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position and Racchini's single to left-center field drove home both runners.

While the offense was putting together 11 hits, Marcus Barone worked six and one-third innings without allowing an earned run. He gave up seven hits while walking three and striking out six. However, after 99 pitches, Labosky came on in relief and retired the game's final two batters on five pitches.

The Birds return to action Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. game versus Mound-Westonka at St. Thomas Academy, beginning at 10 a.m. They will then face tournament-host West. St. Paul at 2:30 p.m. to close out pool play. Chester Bird will play at least one game Sunday with site, time and opponent to be determined.