Knights top

Loyola, 4-1

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

MANKATO -- The past two seasons, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's advanced to the Section 2-1A championship game only to go home with the second-place trophy.

This season, however, the Knights held the No. 1 ranking in Class 1A and were expected to represent the section at the 2001 Minnesota State Baseball Tournament.

They didn't disappoint. Andy Konz delivered a clutch two-run single and shut the door on Mankato Loyola for the final 2 2-3 innings as St. Mary's topped the Crusaders 4-1 at Franklin Rogers Park.

The Knights, now 23-1 on the season, will face the Section 3-1A winner Thursday, 12:30 p.m., in Shakopee in state quarterfinal action. Loyola ends its season with a 13-9 mark.

"I'm really proud of these kids," coach Bruce Woitas said. "We've set high expectations for ourselves this year, and these kids have lived up to it. We've had the big target on our back being ranked all year, and now we can go (to state) and prove it. We have that chance now."

Dan Schwartz got the win for the Knights despite some control problems. The left-hander struck out 10 batters, but also walked seven in 4 1-3 innings. Konz ended his stint with four strike outs, two walks, and one hit allowed. Jamie Mulvihill took the loss for the Crusaders, yielding four runs on four hits and five walks in five-plus innings.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings before the Knights scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Two Mulvihill walks put Randy Braun and John Pelzel on base, and Konz came through with a sharp two-out single to right-center to give St. Mary's a 2-0 lead.

"(Mulvihill) gave me a curveball, and I just went with the pitch," Konz said. "I just wanted to put the ball in play, but it fell in and we were able to score a couple of runs. That started us off good."

Loyola touched Schwartz for a run in the fourth as the lefty walked the bases loaded and hit No. 9 hitter Andy Schmitz to force home Mark Woodward. Schwartz worked his way out of trouble as, despite just two hits in the game, the Crusaders stranded 11 runners -- including leaving the bases loaded in the second, fourth and fifth frames.

"Dan is a good pitcher for us, but he does have the tendency to give up some walks," Woitas said. "He got himself in trouble, but seemed to get himself out of trouble as well. Konzie then came in and did a great job for us. ... They've been doing that all year."

The Knights got that run back in the bottom half as Adam Fischer singled with one out, went to second on an error, and scored on Steve Eckstein's base hit to left-center. The final run of the game came in the fifth as Chad Armbruster took a Mulvihill fastball off the fence in left-center and pinch runner Brian Gangelhoff eventually scored on a Schwartz ground out to second.

Schwartz gave up two more walks in the top of the fifth, and Woitas brought in Konz at that point. The right-hander then gave a free pass to load the bases before getting Jason Woodruff to pop out to third and striking out Robby Rotchadl looking. Loyola did not seriously threaten again.

"Coach (Woitas) talked to me earlier, and told me to be ready in case Dan got in trouble," Konz said. "I came in and just tried to throw strikes. We have a defense behind us that's pretty good, so when we throw strikes, make (opponents) beat us instead of us beating ourselves ... we're a pretty tough team to beat."

Konz showed that as, with runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, he fanned both John Vangsness and Mulvihill to end the inning. The Crusaders went down in order in the top of the seventh.

"This is the third year in a row that we've played in this (title) game," Woitas said. "These kids know what it takes to get here, and we've been focused lately at practice. We came here prepared to play two games if need be, and that's the way you have to approach it. They just did a great job."

LOYOLA 000 100 0--1 2 3

ST. MARY'S 002 110 x--4 4 0

Mulvihill, Schwamberger (6) and Woodruff; D.Schwartz, Konz (5) and Heiderscheidt. WP-Schwartz, LP-Mulvihill, S-Konz. 2B-Armbruster (SM).