Eagles clinch conference title

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- After dropping an 11-2 decision against Shakopee on Monday, the New Ulm softball team knew that they had to play better against St. Peter with the South Central Conference title on the line.

The Saints had defeated New Ulm early in the season at St. Peter, so the Eagles had revenge on their minds and defeated the Saints 3-1 at Harman Park.

Jocelyn Janni got the win for the Eagles, striking out seven and allowing seven hits. She said that it wasn't hard for the team to get ready for the game.

"It was important for us, because we have a lot of girls who haven't won the conference before or have been in such an intense game," Janni said. "And after yesterday's game, we didn't play very well, so we came back and rebounded today."

The Eagles had five hits and were led by Jessica Sperling, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. She also had a triple and an RBI.

"I think we wanted to be more aggressive at the plate, because last time we left the bases loaded against these guys and didn't take advantage of what we had," Janni said. "But today we wanted to be more aggressive, and be more aggressive on our fielding and not have as many errors as we had."

The Saints, who represented Section 2AA in the state tournament a year ago, lost for the second time in the conference this season. Janni said that the Eagles didn't play them as well as they would have like to the first time and knew the game was winnable.

"We played them last time, and we knew we could beat them this time, because last time we didn't play them as well as we would've liked to, and it was only our second game of the season," Janni said.

It also helped that the Eagles played good defense behind Janni. Janni said the improved defense helps her to be more relaxed on the mound and stay focused on what she wants to do.

"It lets me think more about pitching than thinking that I have to strike them all out," Janni said. "It gives me more confidence knowing that they're going to make the plays behind me."

The Eagles went up 1-0 in the second after Sperling singled and later scored on an error. Then, in the fourth, Sperling drilled a triple that scored Angie Seifert. Sperling scored the game's third run on an error by the pitcher.

St. Peter scored its only run in the fifth as Janni got out of a bases-loaded jam. St. Peter stranded seven for the game.

Martha Beatty had a triple and Lexie Cihak had a hit.

"St. Peter's a great team... they got some great hitters over there," Eagle coach Jim Pearson said. "They pound the ball really hard all the time, and Hanson's a really nice pitcher too."

New Ulm (12-6, 9-1) plays at Jackson County Central Friday.

The New Ulm B-squad won 4-0. Lauren Smith was the winning pitcher. She went four innings and she had eight strikeouts. Brittney Sturm went 1-for-3 with two runs.