RLYB Upsets First Place Knights for 3rd Straight Win

In the season finale of Bemidji Youth Baseball action Thursday night, Red Lake remained hot and knocked off the first place Knights of Columbus, who came into the game with a 14 win and 1 loss record, by the score of 14-11.

The action started for the visiting Red Lake team in the 2nd innning when Tony Benais drove in Austin May and Cole Cobenais on a bases loaded double. Dion Thunder followed Benais with an RBI double that scored Riley Chaboyea, who walked earlier in the inning. After Isaac Nabors walked, lead off man Jaden Wood singled to bring in Benais and Thunder. Chase Cobenais followed with a single of his own to bring in Nabors. Cobenais then scored on a Pat Tahahwah fielder’s choice, which gave Red Lake an early 7-0 lead.

The Knights were able to get one run back in their half of the 2nd inning to make the score 7-1 after two innings.

Benais once again started the Red Lake offense in the 3rd inning with the first of three consecutive walks which gave Wood a bases loaded with nobody out opportunity. The lead off man answered the call with an RBI single that brought in Benais. After a Chase Cobenais walk, Tom May, Jr. brought in Thunder and Nabors with an RBI double. May then scored on a pass ball. Cole Cobenais then brought in Wood and Chase Cobenais with an RBI double of his own and later scored on a pass ball. Red Lake was up big and early with the Knights yet to bat in their half of the 2nd.

The Knights capitalized on some Red Lake miscues on defense along with some timely hitting to score 6 runs of their own to make the score 14-7 after three innings.

Austin May came into relieve starting pitcher Pat Tahahwah in the 4th inning and set the Knights down with Red Lake making up for their poor 3rd inning defense by backing up their pitchers when they needed to.

With Red Lake’s offense out of gas after their two big innings, the Knights were able to score 4 more in the fifth inning with more timely hitting to make the score 14-11 with one inning to play.

In the sixth, Red Lake went down in order giving the Knights a golden opportunity to capitalize in the bottom half of the inning.

Austin May gave the Knights little to hit and struck out the first two batters of the last inning. With two outs, the Knights had a little fight left in them when the next two hitters singled and walked, bringing the tying run to the plate. May found himself facing the Knights’ number three hitter, which is usually the best hitter on the team, who was already 2 for 3 and had three RBIs in the game so far. The Knights’ last hope was able to work the count to 2 balls and 2 strikes. Austin May then reached back and threw a fastball that his foe could not catch up to. Strike three. Game over.

The Red Lake offense was a balanced attack where every batter scored or brought in a run. A team effort and clutch pitching was the key to this victory with Pat Tahahwah coming through when his team needed him to and getting crucial strikeouts. Austin May shutting the door in the final three innings with 9 strikeouts was what the team needed.

The victory for Red Lake was its third in a row. After starting the season 0-8, Red Lake was able to go 4-4 in the second half of the season and finish with a record of 4-12. With the win, Red Lake was also able to claim a win against every team in their league, a feat only the 1st place Knights and 2nd place Verizon were also able to do.

Red Lake Youth Baseball would like to thank Jo Tallchief and Charity Prentice-Pemberton, who sponsored our season ending pizza celebration at Giovanni’s Pizza in Bemidji.

We would also like to thank the following who made our season possible:

Red Lake Tribal Council/Donation Committee

Red Lake Housing Authority Board of Directors

Red Lake Chemical Health Programs

Doug, Deb, & Mark at The Other Store and Redby Garage

Michael F. & Evangeline Beaulieu

Jo & Charity at Red Lake Nation Newspaper

And a special Thank You to the parents and fans of Red Lake Youth Baseball who made our season worth playing.