Sabatino throws two-hitter for NUC

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Junior Josh Sabatino scattered two hits while recording 10 strikeouts as New Ulm Cathedral ran its Tomahawk Conference record to 7-0 and 10-0 overall with a 7-1 win over McLeod West Monday afternoon at Johnson Park.

Sabatino allowed a first inning RBI single to Reggie Vacek and a sixth inning single to Darrin Rosenau in the game.

Darrin Rosenau took the loss for McLeod West, allowing five runs in three innings of work. He walked six, four of which ended up scoring.

Scott Knisley and Andy Boyle each had two hits for the Greyhounds while Jeff Schnobrich drove in two runs. One of Knisley's hits was a triple.

"I liked the fact that we scored runs in four out of our six innings that we batted," Cathedral coach Bob Weier said. "I was happy with our hitting -- very happy with our situational hitting."

And it was another good job by Sabatino, who improved his personal record to 4-0 this year for the Greyhounds.

"He pitched another strong game for us," Weier said. "He started out strong -- he struggled a little bit in the fifth and sixth innings, but he got his second wind and regained his concentration to finish strong."

McLeod West scored an unearned run in the top of the first when Jeremy Wendorff reached on the only Cathedral error of the game and eventually scored when Reggie Vacek lined a 2-0 Sabatino offering to left.

"Josh said that he made a mistake against Reggie -- we kind of know where to pitch him but he left a pitch up against him," said Weier.

Sabatino settled down after that, retiring the next nine batters for McLeod West.

The Greyhounds, who host Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in a doubleheader Thursday, tied the game in the bottom of the first when Schnobrich scored on an RBI single by Adam Neubauer.

Cathedral then took a 2-1 lead in the next inning. Andy Boyle singled and scored later when Kyle Reinarts' ground ball to shortstop Jake Maurer went under Maurer's glove.

"I think that it was important for us to tie the game and then take a lead," Weier said. "And we built our lead up from there."

Cathedral added three more runs in the third inning when Rosenau issued one-out walks to Eric Portner, Boyle and Gary Wilfahrt to load the bases. After Rosenau retired Dan Drexler on a fly ball, Schnobrich singled to right to plate two runs with Reinarts' bloop single down the right field line, adding another run.

The lead expanded to 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Knisley tripled and Sabatino helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly. Portner singled and eventually scored on a fielder's choice.

McLeod West mounted threats in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Sabatino walked the first two batters he faced before striking out the side. In the sixth, Sabatino issued two walks and then allowed a single to load the bases with no outs. But he retired Vacek on a fly ball before coaxing Travis Hoffman into a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play.

"I thought that my performance this game was about the same as my other three," Sabatino said. "I took my time (in the jams) and got out of trouble. With the wind, my curveball was not really effective, so I had to rely more on my fastball."

The Cathedral B-squad also won, beating McLeod West 2-1 despite having only one hit. Three McLeod West errors allowed two runs to score. Tom Fischer was the winning pitcher for the Greyhounds. He also doubled in the game.

New Ulm 4, BEA 0

BLUE EARTH -- Winning pitcher Adam Nilson had four strikeouts and only gave up three walks and two hits as New Ulm defeated Blue Earth Area 4-0 in a South Central Conference game Monday.

Tony Mielke went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Nilson went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Tim Fischer had a hit and an RBI while Brad Kraus also had an RBI and Bryan Kamm had a hit.

New Ulm's B-squad won 10-8 and the C-squad also defeated BEA 11-8.

The Eagles (5-2, 4-0) will host St. Peter today at Johnson Park.

St. Mary's 9, Wabasso 8

SLEEPY EYE -- In an extra-inning game, St. Mary's pulled through to defeat Wabasso 9-8 in the tenth inning on Monday.

Matt Gangelhoff pitched the first four innings for St. Mary's with five strikeouts, two walks, giving up six hits and eight runs. Mark Hillesheim went in to relieve him in the fifth, striking out five, giving up three hits and no runs.

Wabasso's Anthony Rohlik pitched 6 1/3 innings, striking out four, giving up nine hits and eight runs. Matt Samyn pitched the last 3 1/3 innings with a run and four strikeouts, giving up three hits.

Gangelhoff hit 3-for-5 with one double and a two-run home run. Jake Bohnen was 2-for-4. Joey Wahl went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game. Andrew Woitas was 3-for-5. Allen Woitas was 1-for-4 with a double and the winning run.

From Wabasso, Josh Gronli was 2-for-5 with one double and a three-run home run. Samyn was 3-for-5 with a double.

St. Mary's (6-3, 4-3) will host Redwood Valley at 5 p.m. and host Minnesota Valley Lutheran at 8 p.m. today. Wabasso is at Murray County Central today.

Springfield 11, SWU 1

SPRINGFIELD -- Springfield defeated Southwestern United Monday 11-1 in a non-conference game.

Pitching, Troy Runck had three strikeouts and four hits for the Tigers. At bat, Runck scored one run and had a sacrifice. Matt Bielen went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Marcus Wendt went 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and a run.

Springfield (6-2, 5-2) will play a nonconference game at Red Rock Central today.

Sleepy Eye 13, GFW 8

FAIRFAX -- Sleepy Eye's Joey Walter went 5-for-5 with three singles, a double and a triple Monday to lead his team to defeat Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in a Tomahawk Conference game.

Winning pitcher Jason Schueler threw all seven innings and had six strikeouts but gave up all eight runs and one walk. Cody Loverude pitched two innings and had one strikeout, giving up six runs, two of which were earned, and one walk.

GFW's James Panning went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Kevin Erdal went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Blake Clobes had two hits and an RBI while Loverude and Pat O'Malley each went 2-for-4.

Sleepy Eye's Derek Nachreiner went 2-for-4.

GFW (5-3, 5-3) will travel to Cathedral on Thursday for a doubleheader. Sleepy Eye will travel to the Metrodome on Friday to play Braham.