Eagles blank

East 3-0, claim

Section 2-3A title

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Andy Stolt allowed just one hit through seven innings while striking out three as the New Ulm High Eagles claimed the Section 2-3A baseball title with a 3-0 shutout of Mankato East Wednesday afternoon at Johnson Park.

New Ulm (21-3) will meet Brainerd at 10 a.m. June 14 at Midway Stadium in St. Paul in a Class 3A quarterfinal game.

The only hit Stolt yielded was a lead-off single to Doug Espenson in the second inning. But Espenson was erased when he was caught stealing two pitches later.

"My arm felt great today but I was pretty well all over the place," said Stolt. "But my defense came up so big today. It has been so strong through the playoffs. They hit the ball but the defense made so many plays today."

The Eagle defense turned a 5-4-3 double play in the first inning; right-fielder Brandon Rolloff made a diving catch with two Cougars on and two out in the third inning and Travis Thorson made a diving grab of a line drive destined for left field.

"I was so pleased with our defensive effort (no errors in the Eagles last two sectional games)," said New Ulm High coach Jim Senske, who will take his 16th team to a state tournament. "And then we have gotten shut-out pitching the last two games from (sophomore) Bob Wellmann and now Stolt. We keep saying that pitching and defense at this level is what wins regional games."

And it was the inability of Mankato East (13-12) to make the plays that led to New Ulm High's ability to make the plays in all three Eagle scores.

In the first inning, Cougar starter and losing pitcher Joey Barr recorded the first of his eight strike outs in the game to fan lead-off hitter Eric Austvold on a fastball. But the ball scooted by catcher Chris Bauer, which allowed Austvold to reach first.

A throwing error by Bauer on an attempted pick-off of Austvold at first allowed him to scamper to second. A passed ball by Bauer moved Austvold to third before the Eagles and Senske pulled off the first of two successful suicide squeezes.

The count went to 1-1 on shortstop Jamie Hoffmann when Senske pulled the trigger the first time and Austvold beat the glove throw to home by Barr for a 1-0 lead.

"Barr is a tough pitcher as you could see," said Senske. "I don't think that we got a bat on the ball in the first few innings; we were swinging at pitches over our head, but we don't see pitchers throw in the high-80s. We had a couple of squeezes that we had and I probably should have had a third (in the sixth inning) and I was kicking myself for not doing it. Runs come hard off Joey Barr."

Runs were impossible for East against Stolt as he worked out of two walks in the third inning on Rolloff's diving catch for the third out.

New Ulm High used that catch by Rolloff to spark a run in the bottom of the third when Matt Schmidt blooped a fly ball to right field that got by Chris Hager as Schmidt took second to start the inning. A wild pitch by Barr -- his second of the game -- moved Schmidt to third. After Austvold struck out, Senske called for a second squeeze bunt, this from Craig Spelbrink.

"We played a lot of New Ulm baseball with the squeeze,"said Spelbrink. "We had a lot of confidence going into this game. We have been improving every game."

Staked to that 2-0 lead after three innings, Stolt allowed only two more baserunners in the final four innings, both harmless walks.

The Eagles plated a third run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Barr issued his second walk of the game on a one-out free pass to Travis Thorson. An error by Barr on a pickoff throw -- the fourth error of the game for the Cougars -- moved Thorson to second.

Travis Boddy coaxed a walk before Rolloff sliced the first pitch he saw down the line in left for an RBI single and a 3-0 lead.

Stolt (5-1) then retired the final three hitters that he faced, fanning Brandon Polzin for his third strike out on his 100th pitch of the game, and sending the Eagles to their 18th appearance in a state tournament.

"This team is jelling at the right time," commented Senske. "I don't think that at the beginning of the year we would have thought this. They have taken their play to another level and now we have to take our play to yet another level (in the state tournament.)"

MANKATO EAST 000 000 0--0 1 4

NEW ULM HIGH 101 001 x--3 4 0

WP: Stolt. LP: Barr. 2B: Schmidt (NU).