The Detroit Lakes Angels let one get away from them Friday night at Washington Ballpark, losing 11-8 to the Vergas Loons despite taking an 8-4 lead into the final inning. “You have to play all nine innings in baseball,” said Angels coach Phil Kirchner. Unfortunately, DL failed to remember that adage on Friday, despite taking an 8-1 lead after the fifth inning. After starting pitcher Derek Zitzow allowed just one run in five innings of work, the Angels failed to capitalize. “They (Vergas) scored a couple of runs on some errors in the sixth,” Kirchner said. Meanwhile, DL’s bats went silent, as they failed to score another run in the final four innings. Vergas scored again in the eighth inning, but DL was still holding on to an 8-4 lead to start the ninth.
Unfortunately, that was when things really started to fall apart for the Angels. “Our pitching let us down,” Kirchner said. “That’s not to take anything away from them (Vergas). They’re a good team.” The Loons scored seven times in the final inning, to turn a four-run deficit into a three-run margin of victory. Relief pitcher Chris Gilson took the loss, after coming in to start the ninth. “They scored some timely hits,” Kirchner said. “We didn’t.” Pitcher Brad Ellingson picked up the win for the Loons, with Brock Collins collecting a save. Offensively, Reed Oistad collected three hits for the Angels, while Gilson and Taylor Fuhs each had two, including a double. Though the Angels “aren’t playing our best ball” at the moment, Kirchner hopes that they can turn things around in time to return to the state tournament for a second straight year. “We’re a July and August team,” he said. “We want to play our best baseball in the playoffs.” Those playoffs start July 20-21, in a yet-to-be-determined location. But before then, DL still has some ball left to play in the regular season. The Angels next take on the Henning Giants tonight (Wednesday) in Washington Ballpark, starting at 7:30 p.m., then face off against the Audubon Zephyrs in a season-ending doubleheader on Saturday (the games were postponed from July 6). Saturday’s first game starts at 1:30 p.m. inside Washington Ballpark. Angels results - Vergas at Detroit Lakes, Friday, July 5 Vergas 000 012 017 – 11 19 4DL 110 060 000 – 8 10 1 Detroit Lakes AB R H BiC. Gilson 4 2 2 0T. Fuhs 4 1 2 1P. Kirchner 4 1 0 1M. Gulseth 3 1 0 1D. Dickey 4 1 1 0R. Oistad 5 1 3 0B. Buhr 5 1 1 1B. Johnson 0 0 0 0N. Polajewski 1 0 0 0D. Zitzow 3 0 1 1R. Berg 2 0 0 1M. Huberty 2 0 0 0Totals 37 8 10 62B: Gilson, Fuhs…SB: Kirchner, Oistad, Buhr, Zitzow…SH: Fuhs…SF: ZitzowPitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k): DL – Zitzow 7-1-1-5-5-0; B. Johnson 3-2-1-0-0-0; Polejewski 4-1-1-0-1-0; Gilson (LP) 3-6-6-1-0-0; Oistad 2-1-0-0-0-0. Frazee at Detroit Lakes, Thursday, July 4 DL 440 101 2 – 12 11 6Frazee 002 000 0 – 2 1 5 Detroit Lakes AB R H BiOistad 4 1 1 1Buhr 5 1 2 1Kirchner 3 2 2 0K. McLeod 1 1 0 0Gulseth 2 1 1 1C. McLeod 3 1 2 0Dickey 2 2 0 0M. Jorgenson 1 0 0 0Zitzow 2 1 1 1T. Tappe 4 1 1 0Huberty 1 0 0 0M. McLeod 1 0 0 0Berg 3 1 1 0N. Eidenschink 0 0 0 0Totals 32 12 11 52B: Gulseth…SB: Kirchner…HBP: Dickey, Zitzow… SF: Oistad, Zitzow, Huberty.Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k): DL – Tappe (WP) 1-2-0-1-5-0; Huberty 0-0-0-0-3-0. Follow Detroit Lakes Newspapers reporter Vicki Gerdes on Twitter at @VickiLGerdes.The Detroit Lakes Angels let one get away from them Friday night at Washington Ballpark, losing 11-8 to the Vergas Loons despite taking an 8-4 lead into the final inning.“You have to play all nine innings in baseball,” said Angels coach Phil Kirchner.Unfortunately, DL failed to remember that adage on Friday, despite taking an 8-1 lead after the fifth inning.After starting pitcher Derek Zitzow allowed just one run in five innings of work, the Angels failed to capitalize.“They (Vergas) scored a couple of runs on some errors in the sixth,” Kirchner said.Meanwhile, DL’s bats went silent, as they failed to score another run in the final four innings.Vergas scored again in the eighth inning, but DL was still holding on to an 8-4 lead to start the ninth.
Unfortunately, that was when things really started to fall apart for the Angels.“Our pitching let us down,” Kirchner said. “That’s not to take anything away from them (Vergas). They’re a good team.”The Loons scored seven times in the final inning, to turn a four-run deficit into a three-run margin of victory.Relief pitcher Chris Gilson took the loss, after coming in to start the ninth.“They scored some timely hits,” Kirchner said. “We didn’t.”Pitcher Brad Ellingson picked up the win for the Loons, with Brock Collins collecting a save.Offensively, Reed Oistad collected three hits for the Angels, while Gilson and Taylor Fuhs each had two, including a double.Though the Angels “aren’t playing our best ball” at the moment, Kirchner hopes that they can turn things around in time to return to the state tournament for a second straight year.“We’re a July and August team,” he said. “We want to play our best baseball in the playoffs.”Those playoffs start July 20-21, in a yet-to-be-determined location.But before then, DL still has some ball left to play in the regular season.The Angels next take on the Henning Giants tonight (Wednesday) in Washington Ballpark, starting at 7:30 p.m., then face off against the Audubon Zephyrs in a season-ending doubleheader on Saturday (the games were postponed from July 6).Saturday’s first game starts at 1:30 p.m. inside Washington Ballpark.Angels results - Vergas at Detroit Lakes, Friday, July 5Vergas 000 012 017 – 11 19 4DL 110 060 000 – 8 10 1Detroit Lakes AB R H BiC. Gilson 4 2 2 0T. Fuhs 4 1 2 1P. Kirchner 4 1 0 1M. Gulseth 3 1 0 1D. Dickey 4 1 1 0R. Oistad 5 1 3 0B. Buhr 5 1 1 1B. Johnson 0 0 0 0N. Polajewski 1 0 0 0D. Zitzow 3 0 1 1R. Berg 2 0 0 1M. Huberty 2 0 0 0Totals 37 8 10 62B: Gilson, Fuhs…SB: Kirchner, Oistad, Buhr, Zitzow…SH: Fuhs…SF: ZitzowPitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k): DL – Zitzow 7-1-1-5-5-0; B. Johnson 3-2-1-0-0-0; Polejewski 4-1-1-0-1-0; Gilson (LP) 3-6-6-1-0-0; Oistad 2-1-0-0-0-0.Frazee at Detroit Lakes, Thursday, July 4DL 440 101 2 – 12 11 6Frazee 002 000 0 – 2 1 5Detroit Lakes AB R H BiOistad 4 1 1 1Buhr 5 1 2 1Kirchner 3 2 2 0K. McLeod 1 1 0 0Gulseth 2 1 1 1C. McLeod 3 1 2 0Dickey 2 2 0 0M. Jorgenson 1 0 0 0Zitzow 2 1 1 1T. Tappe 4 1 1 0Huberty 1 0 0 0M. McLeod 1 0 0 0Berg 3 1 1 0N. Eidenschink 0 0 0 0Totals 32 12 11 52B: Gulseth…SB: Kirchner…HBP: Dickey, Zitzow… SF: Oistad, Zitzow, Huberty.Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k): DL – Tappe (WP) 1-2-0-1-5-0; Huberty 0-0-0-0-3-0.Follow Detroit Lakes Newspapers reporter Vicki Gerdes on Twitter at @VickiLGerdes.
