St. Mary's ready to carry torch

Last year at this time, the Sleepy Eye High baseball team began a journey that would eventually lead them to a Class 1A state baseball championship.

Now, one year later, their cross-town rival find itself beginning a trek that could ultimately lead them to the same fate that the Indians garnered.

The Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights enter Section 2-1A tournament play with an 18-1 season mark, a Tomahawk Conference crown, the top seed in the Section 2-1A West Subsection and the No. 1 ranking in the state Class 1A poll.

And where they are now was no surprise to coach Bruce Woitas.

"Coming into this season, we knew that we were going to be a pretty good team," commented Woitas, who will take his team into a game with the winner of the McLeod West/Sleepy Eye game on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Brownton. "We only had two seniors that we lost from a year ago, and we had made a pretty good run at the end of that season with a young team."

The Knights advanced to the sectional finals before falling to neighbors and eventual state champions, the Indians of Sleepy Eye High.

"We thought that we would be a decent team and near the top of the conference, but to say that you would have only one loss at this time. ... you really can't say that," said Woitas. "We have just played good baseball and that has been the outcome so far."

If pitching is the catalyst for going very deep into tournament play, the Knights have one of the deepest mound staffs in the area -- four solid pitchers led by southpaw Dan Schwartz (0.88 ERA) and Darrin Haala, both at 4-0. Chad Armbruster enters with a 3-0 mark and Andy Konz is 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA. Randy Braun is the fifth St. Mary's starter at 2-0, with Brad Hillesheim at 1-0.

"We have six guys who have thrown varsity baseball and they have all done very well," said Woitas. "Pitching has been a strong point for us; all of these guys, with the exception of one, had varsity experience last year so we had all of our pitching back. We thought that that would be our strong point, and it has."

Offensively, the Knights are led by Armbruster's robust .490 average. Close behind is David Haala at .462 and Konz at .390. Adam Fischer comes in fourth with a .380 average, and three other hitters are over the .330 mark.

"As a team we are hitting .347 and we have an on-base percentage of .525, which means that we are putting the ball in play so positive things are happening," said Woitas.

He feels that the strong pitching keys the Knights' success this year.

"If you start with good pitching, you will get good defense," he said. "And we have been putting the ball in play pretty consistently this year. Last year hitting was our weakest point, but that has improved quite a bit. If you had to pick a point that is our strength, it is our pitching."

The Knights only loss this year came at the hands of Minnesota Valley Lutheran (a 2-1, nine-inning setback).

"It was a great game defensively for both teams," recalls Woitas. "They played a great defensive game. When you get into an extra-inning game like that, small things make a difference."

The Knights gained revenge for their only loss of the season by defeating MVL 7-5 at Sleepy Eye.

"We set some goals before the year," said Woitas. "Some of the seniors, when they were sophomores and it was still a two-class system, were runners-up. Last year, we were also section runners-up. Now, we want to get into that state tournament berth, but we know that there are a lot of teams who will be gunning for us. We deserve the top seed (in the section). As far as the top ranked team in the (Class 1A poll) the kids know that that does not mean squat.

"It puts a target on our backs and we have to prepare for that. This is probably the most pitching depth that I have had here as a coach. They do the job and have jelled together. This is the first time since I have been here that we have 17 juniors and seniors on the team. There are a lot of guys who could be starting for other teams. So far, all of the players have done a great job."

CHARGES GEAR UP FOR BLH: The MVL Chargers open up their Subsection tournament play with a 13-6 overall mark as they prepare to meet BLH Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. at Johnson Park.

The Chargers defeated BLH twice on Monday to end their regular season.

"I like the attitude of our team going into (playoffs)," said coach Craig Morgan. "We played BLH, and the bats that were quiet manufactured some runs. The bats that were quiet got going."

Morgan said that meeting the Mustangs for the third time in less than a week could be bad.

"We will see a different pitcher than we saw the last times," said Morgan. "We will tell the players that we cannot be complacent because we beat them by 10 and nine runs in the last two games. We will talk about that."

MVL started out at 10-2 before losing a tough 7-6 game to New Ulm Cathedral. The Chargers then dropped a doubleheader to Springfield/Cedar Mountain/Comfrey.

"They (SCMC) are a good team," said Morgan. "We came off the Cathedral loss not hitting the ball very well. We went from a Tuesday and did not play a game until a week later. We lost some focus but have gotten that back now. We played well (against BLH)."

But Morgan said the losses to SCMC were not the fact that they lost but how they lost. They were 10-runned in one game.

"I did not like the way that we lost," he said. "They hit the ball well and had two good pitching performances. We got tentative because our bats were not going well, and we had some errors that cost us and they do worry me. In the middle of the season, we were down to one or two errors game and they weren't at critical times. We had critical errors in the losses to Cathedral and SCMC.

"I think that the loss to Cathedral may have carried over. We may have pressed a little in both games. When we relax, we are a better team. We will not look by BLH (on Monday)."

Tom Metzger is the scheduled starter for MVL, "but he was hit by a pitch (against SCMC) and his right eye (six stitches and a hair-line crack on his cheekbone) was swollen shut. It is better now, so we will use either John Enter or hope that Tom can pitch."

HOUNDS ON STREAK: Cathedral High coach Bob Weier will take his Hounds into postseason play riding a seven-game winning streak when they tangle with Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin in an 8 p.m. subsection game Monday night at Johnson Park.

Seeded third, Weier is "feeling good" about his team. "They are getting better every week and playing good baseball."

Weier feels that the winning streak was sparked by getting game experience and some dabbling with the line-up and position changes.

"Our pitchers have also improved by not walking a lot of batters; that keeps the defense alert and on their toes," he said. "We have made some plays defensively, and making outs out of outs."

The last game the Hounds (12-5) lost was to SCMC. "We were on a three-game skid after that game. Then we played GFW in a doubleheader and won them both."

And it was that game that Weier dabbled with the lineup, moving Joey Schugel -- who had been hitting third -- to the leadoff spot while moving Dusty Wilfahrt (previous leadoff hitter) down and Brandon Reinarts up in the lineup.

"That seems to have helped the offense," he said. "I had evaluated Joey's performance in that third spot with runners in scoring position and he had not really delivered by driving runners in for whatever reason. That (move) gave him more at-bats and made him the table setter for the offense, and he is also one of our better base runners. Plus, I think that some of our other hitters are better now; we can put Joey in motion and that helps Dusty and Brandon put the ball in play."

Weier is concerned with the errors that the Hounds have had in that winning streak (six on one game). "High school kids cannot play consistently each game, but when we did play a poor game we found a way to win.

"The kids are focused; they are confident that if they play the way that they can, they can win." said Weier. "We will pitch Dusty Wilfahrt on Monday."

EAGLES KEEP ROLLING: New Ulm High's 9-0 win Friday night behind the brilliant pitching job of Craig Spelbrink reinforces my feeling even more that New Ulm will win the Section 2-3A title. The Eagles host Marshall Thursday (with seedings coming out on Wednesday) and then will in all probability host Section 2-3A tournament play beginning Saturday. The Eagles' game with Marshall will not mean a lot, but it is a game that coach Jim Senske wants to win.

BREWERS START HOT: The New Ulm Brewers travel to Sleepy Eye today for a 2 p.m. contest as they take on the Indians. New Ulm is 3-0 on the young season, and in those three games have outscored opponents 35-6.

SYMPATHY TO BOB REINHART: Our sympathy goes out to the family of Bob Reinhart in the passing of his father Leo this week. Leo was a great baseball supporter and was a key member of the New Ulm Baseball Hall of Fame Committee and a former member of the New Ulm Baseball Association Board of Directors. But more important, Leo was a great person.