Eagles come alive to beat Park Center

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- After being limited to one hit Friday night against Lakeville in a 9-2 loss and only managing two hits in an 11-0 loss to Forest Lake Saturday morning, the New Ulm Eagles put all the pieces together against Park Center.

Bryan Kamm, Josh Thorson, Jonathan Curry and J.J. Germscheid each had two hits and Zach Barrett scattered four hits as the Eagles beat Park Center 12-2.

The right-handed Barrett struck out three and walked just one as New Ulm raised their season mark to 10-6.

Eric Peters took the loss for Park Center (6-10) giving up a total of seven runs.

In addition to his two hits, Josh Thorson also drove in four runs with Germscheid driving in three and Brad Kraus two. Jonathon Curry had two doubles, with Bryan Kamm adding a double.

"This was a huge game for us to win after the loss to Forest Lake," Barrett said. "This can turn everyone around -- it puts us out on a high note for the weekend."

Barrett also wanted some redemption for his performance Friday night when he gave up a three-run homer in the sixth.

"Their two runs were off of two bad pitches by me today," Barrett said. "I wanted some redemption for that game [Friday night]."

"I told the kids that as disappointed as I was after the Forest Lake game, I am just as excited about this game," Eagle coach Dave Curry said. "They really came back -- they had a little bounce in their step, a little cockiness and had some fun. They played well defensively [with two great plays by second baseman Joey Geistfeld and left fielder Bryan Kamm] and they put the ball into play offensively. And Zach pitched a very good game."

The Eagles would take their first lead of the tournament in the bottom of the first when Levi Stugelmeyer walked, went to third on a Bryan Kamm single and scored on Thorson's sacrifice fly.

After Park Center tied the game in the top of the second, New Ulm ended all doubts about the outcome of the game, sending 13 men to the plate and scoring nine runs.

Jonathon Curry reached on a fielder's choice and Germscheid legged out an infield single. Curt Thoreson drew a walk to load the bases. Kraus' two-run single gave New Ulm a 3-1 lead before Kamm lined an RBI single for a 4-1 lead.

Kraus and Kamm came around to score on Thorson's base hit that lifted New Ulm to a 6-1 lead. Jake Schwichtenberg relieved Peters and gave up an infield single to Tony Mielke. Geistfeld became the 10th player to bat in the inning and delivered a run-scoring single before Jonathon Curry laced the first of his two doubles to score Mielke. Germscheid followed with a two-run single for a 10-1 cushion.

"We made the plays and we hit the ball hard," Curry said. " That is New Ulm baseball and that is what we have been missing lately. But I think that pitching was a big part of the game. This game, we sat on the curve ball and waited for our pitch -- we were much more patient at the plate."

The Pirates, coached by former New Ulmite Jeff Stoll, countered with a run in the top of the third on a Ted Toune solo home run. But the Eagles plated a run of their own in the bottom of the inning when Stugelmeyer walked and eventually scored on a Thorson single.

Joe Kuehl scored the 12th run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on a passed ball.

"It was nice to see the [11] hits in the game," Curry said. The 1-2 record in the tournament did not disappoint Curry. "Last year we had a very good team. We had not lost coming into the tournament, and we lost two games. So it is not totally unexpected that you lose. The unexpected part was the way that we played, especially in that first game [against Forest Lake]."

In that game, sophomore right-hander Jed Hanson allowed just two hits -- a second-inning single by Thorson and a two-out double by Brad Kraus in the third as the Rangers hammered New Ulm 11-0 in five innings.

Germscheid took the loss for New Ulm, giving up five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Hanson led the Forest Lake attack with three of their 14 hits.

The Rangers scored a run in the first and then added two more runs in the fourth inning before scoring eight times in the top of the fifth.

Coached by former New Ulmite Brian Raabe, the Rangers improved to 6-8 on the year.

"Our sophomore pitcher did a great job. We have been struggling all year with throwing strikes," he said. "We went young today with a sophomore playing third base. This was our best game by far and that is very encouraging for us.

"Right now, we have the second or third best record in our section, but we need to keep winning to get that seed where we have a home game," he said.

The Eagles play at Marshall on Tuesday.