Knights ready to attack

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The St Mary's baseball team has had several days to prepare to defend their state championship title today against Royalton at 10 a.m. in Chaska.

Knight coach Bruce Woitas said that he knows that Royalton has two good pitchers that are very comparable to each other.

"They were in the tournament last year," he said. "Royalton's pitchers both throw hard," he said. "They can mix up their pitches -- curveballs and sliders -- so we know going into the game that they have to legitimate pitchers. Their team also likes to run the bases a lot and they are fairly quick."

Woitas said that the Royals play in the Prairie Conference and are able to hit the ball.

"They do not have a player that has hit a lot of home runs but from what I have seen, they put the ball in play," he said.

The Knights enter the tournament 22-3 and are defending their state title. Woitas feels that being the defending champion has its helps and hinderances.

"It depends on how you look at it," he said. "The experience of being in the tournament is an advantage. Being the (defending) state champion, there have been many teams that have used us as a measuring stick during the season. They have thrown their best picher against us. I think that being the defending champion puts a target on the front and back."

"This is our third straight trip to the tournament," he said. "We have been in the section finals for five straight years."

While they are the defending champions, this is almost an entirely new team that has taken the field this season.

Andy Cook, Brett Braulick and Matt Mathiowetz were the only regulars returning; the other six starters were either new or had been reserves.

Despite the inexperience coming into the season, Woitas felt that the question mark was the pitching.

"We had lost (starting pitchers) Darrin Haala and Chad Armbruster, who had both been varsity pitchers from their sophomore year," he said. "But we had guys like Brett Braulick and Matt Mathiowetz step up. I think that we had our question mark about our pitching answered."

Woitas said the despite bumps in the road in losses to Minnesota Valley Lutheran, Sleepy Eye Public and New Ulm Cathedral, his team has been pretty consistent this year.

"We did not hit the ball during the year as well as we would have liked to, but come playoff time, we began to hit the ball better," he said.

But he added that he was not happy with the way that his team played their section 2A final game.

"We had a lot of mistakes (against Cathedral) and we were fortunate to survive those mistakes," he said. "The game is simple. When your pitchers throw strikes, put the ball in play and make plays defensively. That will be our goal at the state tournament."

Woitas said that while there have been a lot of players who have played well for his team, the one player who has stepped up is catcher Andy Cook.

"He is hitting .500 average," he said. "His 38 hits is a school record. He has done a great job. He has caught every game but one and in that game, he pitched. He has helped the pitching staff."

Woitas said that he will start either Braulick or Mathiowetz today.