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Big inning keys Maple Grove victory

By Amelia Rayno, Star Tribune, 04/13/11, 11:33PM CDT

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The Crimson scored 12 runs in the third inning to win 16-9


Maple Grove's Karl Sorensen connected for a hit to score a run in 3rd inning action. /Marlin Levison, Star Tribune

Maple Grove coach Darby Carlson can’t predict things – that’s why he’s making his money from a baseball dugout and not somewhere more mystical, he says. But even if he could, his team might have taken him off his feet a little on Wednesday, after his offense exploded for 12 runs in the third inning, and never looked back in a 16-9 win over Centennial.

“It was probably a little different than we expected,” Carlson said with a laugh. “I was very pleased with how well we hit the ball."

Carlson said he had counted on facing Centennial’s top left-hander, Arizona prospect Austin Malinowski. But instead, a group of four pitchers Centennial coach Lynn Buehner dubbed a crew that is trying to step up and figure out their roles took the mound

And the Crimson—which was playing its third game in as many days -- took advantage.

After going down 1-2-3 in the first, and staying scoreless in the second to fall into a 4-0 deficit, Maple Grove batters got to the plate 15 times in the third, collecting eight hits--five of them for extra bases--in the outburst.

“We weren’t shocked at all—we’ve got some good sticks,” junior Cal Bloom said of a team that had struggled offensively in its first three games. “We just knew we had to go out there and make something happen. The dugout really brought some enthusiasm, and that really helped when you were at the plate—it brought a lot of confidence.”

Bloom batted cleanup spot --a first for the junior, who played first base last season—hitting two ground-rule doubles and recording an RBI.

“We’re really going to count on him a lot as the year goes on,” Carlson said.

The Cougars did not go down without a fight—they strung together a four-run inning of their own in the fourth. But the Crimson made some nice defensive plays—including a leaping catch in left field by AJ Hultgren—to ensure the win.

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