The first day of May, a Sunday, was filled with plenty of high moments and fond memories at the old ball yard known as Wintercrest West, but when the dust cleared and the sun set, the most important moments were a pair of come-from-behind victories over Central Lakes College by the Anoka-Ramsey baseball team.
A three-run, bottom-of-the-sixth inning rally in game one (scheduled for seven innings) helped the team overcome a 5-3 deficit and deliver a 6-5 win. Another late three-run rally — this time in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game (scheduled for nine innings) delivered an even more dramatic win.
The three runs in that second game came on one-swing of the bat by left-hander Joe Lewis, who launched a one-strike pitch over the right-field fence to turn a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead and eventual win.
"I was feeling like Earl Weaver at that moment in the second game," said coach Tom Yelle afterward. "I like the small ball game of bunting, I like key base hits that follow and, of course, I really like to see doubles up the gap that score runs. But who in his right mind is going to argue against the merits of a three-run homer?"
The home run was one of two in the game for Anoka-Ramsey. A two-run homer in the second inning — a shot over the scoreboard and well into the Woodcrest neighborhood — by shortstop Brent Tholen helped the team get off to an early 4-0 lead. The lead was built to 5-1 by the start of the seventh, a lead which starting pitcher Parker Janske embraced like a teddy bear won at the State Fair.
But Central Lakes liked teddy bears, too, and responded with four hits and a fielder's choice to cut into Anoka-Ramsey's lead. Cody Ellingson took the mound with bases loaded an no outs and worked out of trouble. Still, the damage had been done and instead of a 5-1 lead, Anoka-Ramsey trailed 6-5.
That changed with the Lewis bomb in the last half of the inning — after Mylo Hommes and Mike Zimbeck had respectively walked and been hit by pitch. Ellingson pitched a scoreless eighth and closer Zack Waalen closed out the game with a one-two-three ninth.
For Waalen, it was his second save of the day. The starting shortstop in opening game, Waalenwas summoned to the mound in the top of the seventh with two out and the bases loaded with Anoka-Ramsey clinging to a 6-5 lead. He worked the count to three balls and two strikes before inducing a game-ending ground out to second.
That was not all for Waalen, though.
An inning earlier with his team trailing 5-3,Waalen lofted a two-out fly ball that fell into short center field for a two-run single. He then scored moments later when Tholen rifled a shot to the deepest part of the ball park — 410 feet away in right center — to give Anoka-Ramsey the one-run lead and eventual one-run victory.
The dual comebacks capped a perfect day for baseball program, which was boosted its winning streak to a record 11 games and the Golden Rams Athletics Department, which celebrated the 29-year college coaching career of Yelle. One who has been coaching upper level baseball for 43 consecutive years in the community, Yelle is retiring at the end of this Anoka-Ramsey season.
He was honored with a ceremony and the presence of many, many former players extending back to his early days in he program — the late 1980s.
"It was an overwhelming experience," he said. "So many people — parents, friends and former players — who came out to say hi and thanks and to shake hands or give a hug. Every time I looked out I could see them — so many memories that were in the faces of those guys just outside the fence…"
Inside the fence in the form of 6-5 and 8-6 wins, meantime, two new memories took a grand shape.