Knights advance to state championship

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

CHASKA -- It may be the most overused cliche in sports. But in this case it's entirely appropriate.

Clutch.

Several times during the season, the Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights have overcome their foibles to win games. They've done it by doing whatever they needed to do to win.

The Knights did it again Thursday -- twice. And they got what they needed when they absolutely had to have it.

St. Mary's advanced to the Class 1A championship game for the second year in a row with a pair of clutch wins. The Knights got past Mayer Lutheran 7-4 in the quarterfinals at The Mini-Met in Jordan and advanced to the final with a 5-3 win over Babbitt-Embarrass/Tower-Soudan at Chaska Athletic Park.

"I'm proud of all these guys," St. Mary's coach Bruce Woitas said after the semifinal win over BEST. "We had different guys come through today. ... It was a total team effort and everybody stepped up and made some plays for us both offensively and defensively. That's what it takes to win a game like this."

St. Mary's will meet Menahga for the Class 1A title at 6 p.m. today at Chaska Athletic Park.

No one was more clutch than Chad Armbruster. The Knights senior got the win in the second game, and hit two very clutch home runs.

The first, an opposite-field shot with two aboard in the bottom of the seventh of the game against Mayer Lutheran, lifted the Knights (19-8) to a 7-4 win. The second was a two-run homer into the trees in left field at Chaska Athletic Park that gave St. Mary's a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

Beavers sophomore pitcher Josh Mathson (9-1) intentionally walked Armbruster in the fifth inning. He likely wishes he had in the seventh.

"It was a curve ball, and it wasn't a good one," Armbruster said. "It was hanging. I just had to sit back and wait."

Armbruster was 2-for-5 in the two games and drove in five runs.

Armbruster wasn't through being clutch. Armbruster went the distance to get the win in the second game, but not before adding some more excitement to the day.

With a 5-2 lead, Armbruster (7-0) allowed the first four BEST batters to reach and the Beavers cut the lead to 5-3 on a wild pitch. But with the bases loaded and none out, Armbruster fanned Kyle Lamppma and Derik Bjorgo.

Armbruster then induced Nick Herberg to pop out to Knights catcher Andy Cook near the far end of the first-base dugout to end the threat, and the game.

"What a crazy game, but we got it done," said Darrin Haala, who got the win for the Knights in the first game. "Chad came to the show this game. It just goes to show that good pitching will take you a long way."

Haala (7-0) worked seven innings in the win against Mayer Lutheran (21-4), which entered the quarterfinals the top-ranked team in Class 1A. Taking a 4-1 lead into the top of the seventh, Haala gave up a solo home run to Matt Lane and left after Ross Stodola doubled to the gap in right-center.

Armbruster came on and walked the only three batters he faced. Haala then re-entered and recorded the final two outs, getting Keenan Harman looking with runners at second and third to end the top of the seventh.

Haala was charged with three runs -- two earned -- on four hits. He struck out five and walked five.

"Darrin had a gutty performance," Woitas said. "Earlier, he had the bases loaded, we made an error, and then he got out of that inning without getting hurt."

The Crusaders stranded 10 baserunners in the game. But none were probably more important than the three left in the sixth and the two in the seventh.

Lane (7-4) took the loss for the Crusaders. He allowed seven runs on seven hits, striking out 11 in seven innings.

The Knights overcame five errors against Mayer Lutheran. And they only really touched Lane in two innings -- the fourth and the fateful seventh.

Trailing 1-0 after Mayer Lutheran plated a run in the top of the third inning, St. Mary's finally figured out Lane in the bottom of the fourth. The Knights put together five hits, including four straight singles with two out.

Matt Mathiowetz led off the rally with a single, and after Lane retired Cook and Armbruster, Haala started the single barrage. Dusty Mangen followed with an RBI single, then Randy Braun and Brett Braulick with run-scoring singles.

Braun scored the fourth run of the inning on a Lane wild pitch.

"It usually takes us -- Lane's pretty decent -- maybe one or two times through the order," Woitas said.

Through three innings, Lane had faced the minimum and allowed only one baserunner -- a two-out walk in the bottom of the first inning.

It took the Knights a while to get their offense going in the game against BEST. Mathson gave the Knights a pair of hits, but kept St. Mary's off the board until the top of the fourth inning. St. Mary's leveled the game at 2 with an RBI double from Braun and a sacrifice fly from Braulick, who went 2-for-2 with two RBI.

St. Mary's took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Braulick drove in his second run with a double to the fence in left field.

Mathiowetz, who went 2-for-4, tripled to the gap in left to start the seventh and scored what would be the winning run on Armbruster's fifth home run of the season.

"Everybody just told me to sit back," Mathiowetz said. "It's just a matter of guys stepping up at the right time. A lot of guys did that when we really needed them."

BEST (24-3) scored single runs in the first and second, getting a pair of hits in each inning. Armbruster faced runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but none crossed.

"I just needed to learn the hitters," Armbruster said. "The first time through was a learning experience. But I figured it out, what their guys do."

Armbruster gave up 10 hits and walked two batters. He was charged with three runs.

Mathson also went the distance and allowed five runs on eight hits. He struck out two and walked three.

"We had different guys come through today," Woitas said. "Brett Braulick had a couple of big hits. Matt Mathiowetz had some big hits. Brian Seidl made some key catches in the outfield. And then Chad bore down for us, did a great job for us.

"Again, it was a total team effort, and we're very excited about the opportunity to go back to the finals."

Class 1A Quarterfinals

At The Mini-Met, Jordan

MAYER LUTHERAN 001 000 3--4 4 3

ST. MARY'S 000 040 3--7 7 5

Two out when winning runs scored

M.Lane and Stodola. Haala, Armbruster (7), Haala (7) and Cook. W--Haala 7-0. L--M.Lane 7-4. 2B--Mayer Lutheran, Stodola. 3B--None. HRs--Mayer Lutheran, M.Lane (7); SMS, Armbruster (4). T--1:59.

Armbruster pitched to three batters in the seventh inning

Class 1A Semifinals

At Chaska Athletic Park

ST. MARY'S 000 201 2--5 8 0

BEST 110 000 1--3 10 1

Armbruster and Cook. Mathson and Stellmach. W--Armbruster 7-0. L--Mathson 9-1. 2B--SMS, Braun, Braulick; BEST, Mathson, Herberg. 3B--SMS, Mathiowetz. HR--SMS, Armbruster (5). T--1:41.