It was quite a day for the Anoka Ramsey baseball team, and quite a day for its freshman first baseman from Coon Rapids Andy ‘Big Dog’ Evans.

On the final Saturday afternoon of April 2009, Anoka Ramsey beat St. Cloud Technical College twice 11-7 and 18-6 to clinch a spot in next weekend’s MCAC tournament. On this peaceful day, Evans was anything but peaceful on St. Cloud TC pitching going 6 for 7 with 2 homers and a new team record 10 RBI for a doubleheader. Evans had a 3-run blast in the first game out of Dick Putz Field, then slammed a high shot down the right field line just inside the foul for a 2-run homer in the second game.  Evans also had a sacrifice fly and was hit by pitch and bumped his season-long batting average up to the .400 mark and his RBI total to a team-leading 24.

Complementing the Big Dog’s effort were Adam Runkel (sophomore, Mounds View) and Steve Theil (freshman, Osseo), who had four hits each. Both players had been struggling at the plate recently, but came through with a vengeance in this doubleheader. Runkel, the team’s steady second baseman, in fact, had a triple and pushed his batting average over the .300 mark for the first time this season. Thiel, meantime, an outfielder who had been inconsistent at best at the plate prior to this doubleheader, had a triple and his first home run among his four hits.

On the pitching end of things, Anoka Ramsey was buoyed by the first-game, complete-game performance turned in by Matt Wagner (freshman, Champlin Park). Wagner had a no-hitter going through four innings, but St. Cloud ended that and his shutout in the fifth by scoring all seven of its runs — just two earned — to close Anoka Ramsey’s initial 9-0 lead to 9-7. Wagner, however, regained his poise, got out of the jam and settled in to finish the game strong.

In game two, Anoka Ramsey’s first two pitchers struggled in the second inning when six runs were given up to cut an early 7-0 lead to 7-6. But Chris Hoff (freshman, Champlin Park) came on to shut the door. Over the next five innings the right-hander gave up just two hits while striking out four to even his season pitching record at 2 wins and 2 defeats.

The two wins in St. Cloud gave Anoka Ramsey an 8-6 Central Division record. That win total guaranteed a spot in next week’s MCAC tournament, which will be played at Dick Putz and Joe Faber fields in St. Cloud. The opening games will be Friday…