Eagles top Willmar, fall to East in 2-3A tournament

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

NORTH MANKATO -- The game couldn't have been better, except for the final score.

Ty Ries singled and scored in the bottom of the fourth inning and pitcher Caitlyn Cornell made it stand up as the Mankato East softball team defeated New Ulm 1-0 in Section 2-3A semifinal action at Caswell Park.

The Eagles reached that point by defeating Willmar 7-4 earlier in the day.

"It was a great ballgame. This is what high school sports is all about, to watch two good teams battle like this," New Ulm coach Jim Pearson said. "One more hit or one more defensive play than they had, and that one on the scoreboard slides over to our side and we're walking out of here with two wins. It was still a great day for us."

Lauren Hofmeister was excellent in the loss, limiting a potent Cougar lineup to just three hits. The junior right-hander struck out two and didn't walk a batter.

"Lauren pitched really well tonight, and we needed that," Pearson said. "It's that time of the season when we need our kids to come through for us, and she did. All our kids did."

Cornell, a sophomore subbing for injured ace Kelly Terrell, looked like an ace herself as she faced just one batter over the minimum, striking out five and walking one on a two-hitter. New Ulm would have runners on in both the second and fourth innings, but East catcher Ries showed off her arm as she picked Jenny Brandel off first and nailed Emily Hamann trying to steal second.

Sheena Stueber would be the only Eagle to reach scoring position as she walked and was sacrificed to second in the top of the sixth, but Cornell was able to get Allison Boddy to ground out to end the threat.

Ries had started the fifth with a base hit, and teammates Kristin Kachelmeyer and Biz Landwehr moved her to third on a pair of ground outs. Hofmeister's only real mistake of the game -- a wild pitch -- would be the difference as Ries crossed the plate with the eventual game-winner.

New Ulm, now 16-5 on the season, will face the winner of the Litchfield/Worthington game at 5 p.m. Thursday at Caswell Park in consolation bracket action. If the Eagles win, they will play again at 7 p.m.

NEW ULM 7, WILLMAR 4

Laura Schaefer made her first appearance of the season, shutting down Willmar in the final two frames in relief of starter Cassie Schultz. Schultz got the win, yielding seven hits while striking out four and walking two, and the Eagle offense jumped on top early.

After Steph Schirmers' RBI double in the top of the first gave the Cardinals a brief lead, New Ulm busted through with three runs on four hits in the bottom half. Brittany Gorres would knot the score as her RBI ground out plated Allison Boddy, and Jenny Brandel gave the Eagles the lead for good with her RBI triple to right-center. Shelly Gramentz then delivered the fourth hit of the frame, an RBI single to right that scored Brandel.

"A lot of things worked well for us in that first game," Pearson said. "(Willmar) had beaten us a while back in our own little tournament when the weather was cold and windy, so before the game we talked about coming out and playing well. I thought we did that."

Three more runs would come across in the second as Brittany Gorres got things started with an RBI single that scored sister Shannon Gorres from second. The ball got past Angie Olson in right field, allowing Stueber to score from first for the fifth New Ulm run, and Boddy would walk and eventually score on a wild pitch.

Willmar chipped away at the lead with single runs in both the third and fifth innings, but Hamann's third hit of the game, a single to center, plated Stueber in the bottom of the sixth as the Eagles held on to advance.

Game 1

WILLMAR 101 010 1 -- 4 7 2

NEW ULM 330 001 x -- 7 9 2

W--Schultz. L--Reiman. S--Schaefer. 2B--Willmar, Schirmers (W). 3B--New Ulm, Brandel.

Game 2

NEW ULM 000 000 0 -- 0 2 1

MANKATO EAST 000 100 x -- 1 3 0

W--Cornell. L--Hofmeister.