Questions have been answered

NEW ULM -- Prior to the start of this high school baseball season, New Ulm High coach Jim Senske felt that his team had two question marks going into his 37th season -- pitching and catching.

Those questions have be answered.

The Section 2-3A champion Eagles, 21-3 on the season and riding an 11-game winning streak, will enter their 18th trip to the state tournament, their 16th under Senske, with a pitching staff that has been dominant in the sectionals, and a catcher that has done a great job.

First the Eagles' mound staff, a question mark at the start of the season that has now become one of the team's strengths and perhaps the most dominant pitching trio in years.

How dominant have they been?

In the last 21 innings of tournament play, they have allowed only one run and have yielded just eight hits as they defeated Marshall and then twice downed defending 2-3A champion Mankato East. In fact, since Marshall scored a run in the first inning of their game with New Ulm, the duo of Andy Stolt and Bob Wellmann have held opponents scoreless. And senior righthander Craig Spelbrink, who pitched a 9-2 opening-round win over Waseca in the sectional tournament, has permitted just two runs in his last 14 innings while giving up only four hits.

"We didn't know if we had people who could beat tough teams," said Senske, who carries a 25-19 record in state tournament play. "But that has pretty much taken care of itself because they have been able to do it. That was one of the things that won the sectional for us."

Senske said that the performance of the pitching staff in sectionals has been very good. "Andy did a great job (Wednesday) against East, and the reason that he started was because of his control. In 36 innings (prior to that game) he had only walked seven batters. They were going to have to hit him to beat him, and they didn't do it."

While the Eagle staff has been strong in tournament play, Senske said that they are not a "Joey Barr (East pitcher), who throws the fastball in the high-80's. They don't have overpowering fastballs and they have good control. They also have pretty good breaking pitches that they can throw for strikes, which is an advantage. High-school kids typically don't hit the breaking pitch as well as they do a fastball."

The Eagles will face defending Class 3A champion Brainerd, 10 a.m. Thursday, at St. Paul's Midway Stadium.

RECORDS EVEN: Wellmann leads the New Ulm staff with a 9-1 record, allowing 40 hits in 39 1-3 innings. The sophomore has walked 20 while striking out 61 and has an ERA of 1.53. Spelbrink, who has tossed back-to-back two hitters in his last two appearances, has pitched 34 2-3 innings, giving up 23 hits and walking 13. He has 38 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.01.

Stolt, who pitched the Eagles to the state tournament, has allowed 38 hits in 43 innings, walking only 12 and fanning 50 for an 0.63 ERA.

GEISTFELD STRONG CATCHER: When the season started, Senske inserted senior Rob Geistfeld, who had played first base his junior year, into the catching spot. And Geistfeld has done the job at a very important position.

"Rob had caught in the program up to his sophomore year," commented Senske. "He was always a smart catcher; he did not have a strong arm but it was accurate. He blocked pitches and has turned out from being quite iffy at the start of the year to very reliable, and he calls a good game. There have not been a lot of pitches that have gone to the backstop and we are very pleased with the confidence that he has gained this year."

"It wasn't a hard transition to make," said Geistfeld, who saw his team gain some revenge on East as the Cougars beat the Eagles in the Section 2-3A football title game last fall. "It was not too tough of a change there; I like playing back there anyway. You need to be in the game every pitch."

Geistfeld, along with Spelbrink, felt that the early-season 5-1 loss to United South Central (New Ulm beat USC 16-1 later) made the team refocus for the season.

"That made us come to every game ready to play," he said. "We figured that if we just showed up we'd have a win. That got our eyes open and made sure that we came focused every game."

"We took that game as a wake-up call," Spelbrink said. "We are playing New Ulm baseball now and are getting better and better each game."

Pitchers need to have confidence in their catcher each time out, and Geistfeld is a big reason that New Ulm is where they are now.

THORSON ANCHOR AT THIRD BASE: Senior Travis Thorson has been a vacuum cleaner at third base and, according to Senske, has played as good of third base as anyone has for the Eagles.

"He is a hard-nosed tough kid who is absolutely fearless," said Senske. "He has good instincts and has gotten a lot of good hops because he knows how to play; he comes in on the ball, he has cut off a number of balls in the hole and has an accurate throwing arm."

He has only three errors on the year.

"He has played outstanding third base for us," Senske said.

'This team has managed to gel -- they are serious when the game starts. They focus well, and I don't know if they are on a mission or anything. They have been able to focus on the important games."

ALL-JOURNAL BASEBALL NOMINATIONS: Area high school baseball coaches are reminded to send or fax their nominations for the All-Journal Area baseball team as soon as they can.

Nominations should include this year and career stats along with comments about player from their coach. Send them to 303 North Minnesota Street, New Ulm, MN, 56073, or fax them to (507) 359-7362. Coaches will not be called if no nominations are received.