Despite pitching four innings and leaving the game with a 4-2 lead, Mikey McGill would not figure in the final decision of Benilde-St. Margaret’s 6-5, nine-inning win over Spring Lake Park.

However, McGill would figure in the ending of the game as he drove a ball off the top of the right-center field fence with to drive in Keaton Studsrud from second base with the game-winning run.

McGill’s late-game heroics may not have been possible without the relief pitching of Colin Polarek.

With runners on first and second and two out in the eighth inning, Polarek came on and, despite a passed ball moving both runners into scoring position, he struckout Panther leadoff hitter Sam Kaus on a called third strike to end the threat.

He then retired Spring Lake Park in order in the top of the ninth, taking down the Panthers’ 2-3-4 hitters.

Spring Lake Park took an early lead when Kaus walked to open the game and Aaron Murphy followed with a blast over the left field fence to give the visitors a 2-0 lead just 10 pitches into the game.

BSM responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Labosky walked to lead off the rally and Nathan Hanks bunted for a base hit. A fielder’s choic ground ball by Keaton Studsrud put runners on the corners and Grant Besse followed with a double to center field to plate one run and McGill’s sacrifice fly tied the game.

A pair of Panther errors in the second inning and Marshall Hoemke’s sacrifice bunt set up a Red Knight run as Labosky’s sacrifice fly ball drove home Jimmy Cron to break the tie.

In the third inning, Besse reached on an error open the frame and back-to-back singles by McGill and Michael Kaminski made the score 4-2.

Despite allowing just three hits and two runs, McGill needed 90 pitches to get through his four-inning stint, giving way to Dunham DeRemer, who worked two scoreless innings and went into the seventh inning with a 5-2 lead after doubling to lead off the sixth inning. Matt Ambre pinch ran and stole third ahead of Colin Polarek’s RBI single.

DeRemer would get tagged for three runs in the seventh inning, bringing on Studsrud in relief as the Panthers sent the game into extra innings.

With the win in relief, Polarek lowered his earned run average to 1.62. In three relief appearances, he now has a win and a save under his belt.

McGill, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, continued a week in which he has gone 12-for-16 with a double, homerun, four runs scored and six RBI.

Studsrud also went 2-for-4 in the game, scoring two runs, including the game winner, while stealing his team-leading eighth base of the season.

The victory moved the Red Knights to within a half-game of the North Suburban Conference lead. With a 4-1 mark, they trail first-place Totino-Grace, are tied with Robbinsdale Cooper and lead Irondale by a half game. All three teams are on BSM’s schedule for the coming week.

Meanwhile, the Red Knights have two games slated for tomorrow, beginning with a 10 a.m. contest at Cretin-Derham Hall. BSM will then return home for a conference game, facing North Branch in a 1:30 p.m. meeting which was rescheduled from yesterday.

A copy of this story in a PDF format, along with a box score, play-by-play and complete statistics, is available here.