Rangers baseball state run ends in fourth place

Forest Lake won its section, advanced to state tournament for first time since 2017

The Forest Lake Rangers baseball team had a season to remember this spring, winning the Section 7AAAA title and finishing fourth at the Class 4A state tournament.

Forest Lake’s run earlier this month ended a five-season drought (the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19). The last time the Rangers won their section and advanced to the state tournament was back in 2017, where they came up short against Eden Prairie in the state championship as the No. 2 seed.

This season, finding a way to win more tight games was a pivotal reason behind the Rangers’ unexpected run to the state tournament.

“We obviously pitched very well,” Forest Lake coach Kale Henry told the Times. “We had some seniors with lots of experience at the varsity level, so that helps. But, the difference [this season] was we found a way to win some of those games that were close that we didn’t win last year.”

The Rangers put themselves in a position to have a good chance to win most games this season. That’s evident with seven losses by two or fewer runs. But their ability to keep many of the games they lost close is what prepared them for the postseason.

“That’s how we got ourselves ready for sections,” Henry said of their competitiveness in losses. “We always believed we had a chance [to win] in every game because we were pretty much in every game all year long. [It] didn’t always go our way — but we knew that we could keep pace with any team in the state. And that gave us confidence to go compete in our section and go compete in the state tournament.”

The Rangers got hot at the right time. After winning their final two regular-season games, they outscored opponents 21-5 over four wins in the section tournament.

While Forest Lake narrowly beat Duluth East 4-3 in the opening round, they were dominant after that. The Rangers took down No.1-seeded Andover 12-2 in the quarterfinal and then they won 3-0 over Anoka in the semifinal. When Forest Lake met Anoka again in the section championship, the Rangers stood tall defensively again with a 2-0 victory — securing them a spot in the state tournament.

“I was super excited for the kids and for our coaching staff,” Henry said of the trip to state. “Anytime you get a chance to compete at the highest level at the state tournament, it’s a great deal of excitement. Playing at CHS Field was an amazing experience — something that we’ll all remember the rest of our lives.”

The random draw and unseeded Rangers faced No.2-seeded Farmington in the quarterfinal — and thrived in the face of adversity. The Rangers’ biggest improvement this season was their ability to get timely hits, Henry said. And, it turned out that the Rangers only needed two hits to secure their first state win since 2017.

Forest Lake took a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to senior Nolan Dumonceaux, whose double to left-center field scored senior Tyler Schnabel from first base. The Rangers maintained the 1-0 lead, but found themselves in trouble in the seventh inning with the Tigers having runners on second and third with just one out.

Senior Kennan Bjork pitched the team out of it and helped secure the Rangers a tight 1-0 victory over the Tigers at CHS Field in St. Paul on Thursday, June 13.

“Kennan was just dominant all day,” Henry said. “We had to wiggle out of a jam [with runners on] second and third [with] one out. He got a big strikeout and then a pop up off their best hitter to end the game. He was fantastic all year, but especially in this game against Farmington.”

Bjork pitched all seven innings, earning a shutout with six strikeouts and only five hits and two walks allowed in the contest.

Both Dumonceaux and Schnabel recorded two hits, while juniors Keegan Lee and Hunter Hanegraaf had one hit each. The victory extended the Rangers’ win streak to seven games. They hadn’t won that many consecutive games since that 2017 state run.

“There was just pure joy,” Henry said of the win.“It’s what you’re there for — to compete. And I don’t think a lot of people had Forest Lake on their bingo card for the final four except for those of us in our dugout. Maybe some of our fans. But it was fun to pull off another upset over a very good team in Farmington. They’re a talented group.”

It was the epitome of a typical Rangers baseball win this season: strong pitching and defense supplemented with some timely hits.

“We had to have great pitching, and we usually did. And we trust our defense to make plays,” Henry said when asked about the team’s recipe for success in sections and state. “And then offensively, we had to manufacture runs, find ways to score. We weren’t a lineup that was going to bash, six, seven doubles in a game. But we could move guys over, get them in a scoring position and then come up with a timely hit to try to put a few runs on the board and earn a lead. So, that’s kind of how we did it.”

The Rangers couldn’t keep their momentum going in the semifinal game against the No.3-seeded East Ridge on Friday, June 14. Forest Lake fell behind early to the Raptors, facing an 8-0 deficit through three innings in the eventual 10-1 loss. Junior Ethan Laschinski and sophomore Zach Schnabel were the two Rangers to record a hit, while seniors Connor Pink and Gavin Goehner each got on base once courtesy of a walk. The Rangers then fell 3-0 to No.1-seeded Wayzata in the third-place game later that day.

Despite falling short, the Rangers had their second-winningest season since 2017. The only exception is the 2021 campaign when they finished 15-11. But, unlike that year, the Rangers captured a section championship and made it to state this season.

“We always talk about the old cliche of pitching and defense wins championships,” Henry said, “and that’s who we are and who we were and through and through that proved to be the case in the state tournament and the section tournament as well.”

The Rangers improved this season in Suburban East Conference play, too, finishing with a record of 7-11 after winning five and four games, respectively, over the past two years.

“We had great senior captains,” Henry said. “Nolan Dumonceaux and Gavin Goehner were just great leaders for us — led by example, hard workers, stayed positive, stayed focused and kind of kept the ship afloat when times were tough for us.

“So, they did an awesome job. And then just our senior class in general was great. Kids worked hard, they love the game and they play with passion.”

Forest Lake’s improvement in the SEC shouldn’t be overlooked. If one needs evidence that the SEC is difficult, look no further than the final four teams in this year’s state tournament: East Ridge, Mounds View, Forest Lake and Wayzata. The first three are in the SEC; East Ridge and Mounds View competed for a state championship at Target Field on Monday, June 17 after press time.

“It’s a grind of a schedule and a grind of a season,” Henry said of the SEC. “And to be able to work our way through the sections to get to the state tournament was extremely rewarding for all of us.”

The Rangers hope to continue their success a year from now.

“You always have your goal set high, and we want to come back," Henry said. "We’re going to have a lot of returning pitchers coming back next year. So that’s going to give us a springboard to hopefully some more success and competing and going after another section championship.”