Sabatino, Wilfahrt team up for win

Cathedral edges Chargers 2-0

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Sophomore Josh Sabatino pitched four innings of five-hit ball and senior Dusty Wilfahrt struck out seven of the nine hitters that he faced in three innings as New Ulm Cathedral edged Minnesota Valley Lutheran 2-0 Tuesday afternoon in Tomahawk Conference baseball.

Sabatino fanned two in getting the mound win for Cathedral (3-1, 4-2) and worked out of Charger threats in three of his four innings on the mound.

Mark Rolloff pitched well enough to win for MVL (3-2), permitting seven hits while fanning six in his complete game appearance.

Scott Knisley led Cathedral with two hits and an RBI, Andy Klingler contributed an RBI single, and Mitch Palmer doubled.

Tyler Morgan had two hits for the Chargers. David Petersen added a double.

"I thought that both Josh and Dusty did a nice job today," Cathedral coach Bob Weier said. "Josh had his first outing as a varsity ballplayer on Saturday and did not fare well, but today he did ,and Dusty came in and shut them down."

Charger coach Jeff Schoenherr pointed to the "lack of getting a big hit when we needed it. I thought that Mark (Rolloff) pitched a strong game. He was pumped up because we were playing Cathedral. He threw strikes and let his defense help him."

Cathedral took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Wilfahrt lead-off single. Wilfahrt swiped second and moved to third on a Klingler sacrifice bunt.

Wilfahrt trotted home when Knisley singled up the middle.

MVL came back with a threat -- the first of three in the game for the Chargers -- but failed to get the key hit that Schoenherr was looking for.

Tyler Morgan rapped a two-out single and pinch runner Jake Firle stole second. A passed ball advanced Firle to third. Mark Rolloff coaxed a walk off of Sabatino before Dusty Lendt laced a ball towards second that hit Rolloff for the third out.

Rolloff himself worked out of a jam in the top of the second when Mitch Palmer led off with a double to center field. But the senior right-hander set down the next three Cathedral hitters to end the threat.

MVL tried again to get to Sabatino in both the third and fourth innings.

Sam Mielke legged out a one-out infield single and stole second. A two-out infield single off of Morgan's bat placed runners on first and third. But Sabatino again dodged a bullet when he got his counterpart, Rolloff, to ground out to shortstop.

MVL's final threat of the game came in the fourth as Petersen doubled with one out and scampered to third on a Mark Thiesfeldt fly out to right field. But once again, the sophomore rose to the occasion as he retired Dan Berg on a come-backer.

"He (Sabatino) struggled on Saturday," Weier said. "He got hit hard on Saturday but today, he pitched well. He retired the leadoff hitter in all four of his innings and he was ahead of most of the hitters."

Weier said that when Sabatino did get into trouble, "he really bore down. He got ahead of those hitters in those situations and got out of them."

Schoenherr felt that it was just a matter of time before the Chargers scored.

"I thought that we were going to break out it one of those innings," he said. "But we could not come through. I think that we are a good hitting team, but today, I think that it was a case that their pitchers mixed up their speeds well."

MVL's failure to score in the top of the fourth inning may have fired up Cathedral to score an insurance run. Palmer led off with a walk, and a one-out single by Jacob Schlomann moved him to second. Andy Klingler followed with an RBI base hit that plated Palmer for the 2-0 lead.

CATHEDRAL 100-10-0--2 7 1

MVL 000-000-0--0 6 1

2B: Palmer (CHS), Petersen (MVL). WP: Sabatino.LP: Rolloff.

RWV 4, Sleepy Eye 2

REDWOOD FALLS -- Riley Jensen took the loss for Sleepy Eye, striking out four and allowing four hits.

Rob Peterson and Joe Brandl each had a double, with an RBI for Brandl. Tyler Jensen had an RBI single for the Indians.

Sleepy Eye (2-1, 2-2) hosts Springfield Monday.

Wabasso 10,

Buffalo Lake-Hector 0

HECTOR -- Wabasso easily defeated Buffalo Lake-Hector 10-0 in conference baseball Tuesday.

Anthony Rohlik went six innings as the winning pitcher for the Rabbits, giving up three hits, three walks and three strikeouts.

Keith Baune was the leading batter for Wabasso and nearly hit for the cycle with a single, two doubles and a home run. He was 4-5. Brent Baune was 2-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Luke Fredrickson was the losing pitcher. He went seven innings, 10 hits, eight earned runs and six strikeouts. Other notables from the Mustangs were Joey Johnson, who was 1-2, and Luke Fredrickson, who was 1-3.

The Rabbits (3-1, 2-1) will travel to Springfield tomorrow to take on the Tigers at 1:30 p.m.

Madelia/Truman 12,

Nicollet 7

COURTLAND -- Two Nicollet errors in the seventh inning allowed Madelia/Truman to score eight runs to beat the Raiders 12-7 in non-conference baseball.

Going into the last inning, the score was tied at four, and after M/T scored eight, Nicollet came back with three in the bottom of the seventh.

Jayhawk pitcher Matt Trullinger went all seven innings, giving up seven earned runs off of 10 hits, with five walks and 11 strikeouts.

Jeff Allerson of Nicollet went for 6 innings, had four earned runs and nine hits. Allerson had no walks or strikeouts.

Andy Renner of Nicollet went 2-4 at the plate hitting two two-run homers. That gave him two runs and four RBI's. Cody Wilking went 3-4 with one run and two steals. Mike Rosin was 2-4. He had a single, a triple and a run. Jeff Zimmerman was 2-4 with two runs and one steal.

Aarin Greier was 3-5 on the afternoon for Madelia/Truman. He had two singles, a double and three runs.

Nicollet (3-2, 1-2) hosts Cleveland next Thursday at Courtland.

Springfield 12,

McLeod West 0

BROWNTON -- Springfield's Brandon Wilhemi tossed a no-hitter and went 2-3 with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Tigers to the Tomahawk baseball win.

Brian Harth went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Matt Tews went 2-for-3 with a triple and a double. He also had three RBIs.

Matt Breden had a double and three RBIs.

Springfield hosts Sleepy Eye Monday while McLeod West hosts Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

Sleepy Eye 11, GFW 4

FAIRFAX -- After beating Springfield 17-5 Monday, GFW (3-2, 2-2) came back and lost to Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 11-4 Monday.

The winning pitcher was Brett Braulick of St. Mary's (6-1, 4-1). He pitched five innings, had six strikeouts, four walks and three hits.

Jon DeRock was the losing pitcher. He pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs, four hits and seven walks. GFW also had three errors.

For St. Mary's, Matt Mathiowetz was 2-5 and had a triple. Tim Braulick was 2-5 with a triple and two RBIs. Brad Hillesheim was 1-2 with two RBI's.

James Panning and Cody Loverude, of GFW, were 1-3 and both had a RBI. Andy Pearson was 1-1.