Maple Lake Lakers storm Cokato for 7-0 win

By Matt Brown

Correspondent

The Maple Lake Lakers had their plans disrupted this week due to rain but got a win when they were able to play.

Saturday, June 22 was supposed to feature a three-game series of local teams for the Knocking Out Cancer event to benefit the Randy Shaver Cancer Research Foundation but a week of rain, including rain on Saturday, cancelled the festivities. The North Star League had a number of postponements this week but still feature five teams within one game of first, with Loretto and Hutchinson leading the way at 6-1, and Buffalo, Delano, and Maple Lake at 5-2.

Maple Lake 7, Cokato 0

The rain finally broke but the Cokato Kernels had to face a different kind of storm Sunday afternoon, June 23 when they hosted the Lakers. Donnie Mavencamp and Matt Bergstrom crossed in the second thanks in part to an RBI-double by Ben Goelz to take the early lead. Ben Clapp had an easy run around the bases after he put the ball out of the park and had Hunter Malachek and Luke Fobbe to greet him at home to celebrate the three-run shot. Bergstrom drove in Clapp in the fifth to expand the lead further. Things were not going well for the Kernel bats as Hurricane Malachek allowed only two runners in scoring position over the first five innings.  Hunter doubled to start the seventh and was brought in by Bergstrom for the seventh run of the day. He proceeded to strike out the side to end the inning.  The rain came after that and the game was called after seven. Malachek ended with no runs off three hits, three walks, and sixteen strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Up next

The Lakers are on the road this week with a stop at Buffalo on Wednesday, June 26 at 7 p.m., and a trip to Maple Plain on Saturday, June 29 at 4 p.m. The North Star League All Stars square off against the Crow River League All Stars in Waconia on Friday, June 28 at 7 p.m.

No 23 Matt Bergstrom gets ready to swing at a pitch at a recent Lakers game. Bergstrom scored for the Lakers in last week’s game against the Cokato Kernels