St. Agnes routs

St. Mary's 16-6

in Class 1A final

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

JORDAN -- Things looked good early for Sleepy Eye St. Mary's. The Knights scored four runs in the bottom of the first in the Class 1A baseball championship game at Jordan's Mini Met.

Then the wheels came off.

St. Agnes sent 10 men to the plate in the second inning and 11 men in the sixth inning, taking advantage of eight St. Mary's errors as the Aggies took the title with a 16-6, six-inning win Friday night.

"It was very uncharacteristic for us," Knight coach Bruce Woitas said. "We had eight errors in this game, and we're just not used to doing that. We didn't make the plays, but you have to give (St. Agnes) credit; they took advantage of every mistake we made, and kept the pressure on us from then on out."

It didn't look to be that way early, though, as the Aggies committed two errors in the bottom of the first which led directly to two of St. Mary's four runs. Dan Schwartz and Adam Fischer cracked RBI singles against St. Agnes hurler Dave Berthiaume, whose throwing error at home allowed both to score for a quick 4-0 lead.

"We were feeling pretty good at that point," Woitas said. "We had Darrin (Haala) on the hill and he's one of our top pitchers."

Haala started the second with a pair of walks, and it just snowballed from there. Two costly errors got the Aggies within 4-2, and Robbie Menne's two-run double to the gap in left-center tied the game at 4-all. The big hit came from Berthiaume as he stroked a two-run single with two outs and two strikes on him, and St. Agnes would not trail again.

"(Haala) walked a few guys, and didn't pitch with a four-run lead the way he usually does," Woitas said. "We didn't catch a fly ball in left field, and the next thing you know it's 4-4."

St. Mary's would load the bases with no outs in the third, but the Aggies escaped unscathed as Berthiaume coaxed a double-play ball from Adam Fischer and Steve Eckstein's line drive to left was snabbed by Kris Nichols.

"Any time you have an opportunity to score runs you have to take advantage of it," Woitas said. "Nobody out, bases full, and we hit into a double play home-to-first."

Another Knight error in the third allowed Mike Valento to score, and his RBI single to left coupled with an Andy Konz wild pitch pushed that lead to 9-4 in the fourth before St. Mary's rebounded with a pair of runs of its own. John Pelzel reached on an error and Darrin Haala doubled to left-center. Konz's grounder to short scored Pelzel, and David Haala got the Knights within 9-6 as his single off Berthiaume's leg plated Darrin.

"We didn't quit," Woitas said. "We battled back and got within 9-6, but ... then the wheels fell off for us again. We didn't make the plays we normally make."

The Aggies (20-7) would score seven runs in the top of the sixth off just three hits as St. Mary's committed four more miscues. Nichols and Menne would contribute RBI singles in the rally, which was capped by Kyle Quinn's two-run base hit to right. The Knights got a runner on in the bottom half trying to prolong the game, but St. Agnes second baseman Mike Kroona forced Konz at the bag for the final out.

Berthiaume scattered eight hits in the win, striking out two and walking one. Darrin Haala was tagged with the loss as he yielded seven runs on six hits, fanning one and walking two.

"It was a great season. ... I mean, 25-2 (record)," Woitas said. "These kids had pressure on them all year long with the (state No. 1) ranking. We were ranked first for almost three-fourths of the season after we went ahead of Mayer Lutheran, and they battled with that the whole time.

"We had an opportunity to prove it. We got to the title game, and it just didn't happen for us."

St. Mary's 3, Nashwauk-Keewatin 2

The Knights had a 2-0 lead Thursday night, and survived both the weather and the Spartans (24-1) for a 3-2 win Friday morning and the right to move on to the title game.

Dan Schwartz got the mound win for St. Mary's, yielding just three hits while striking out seven and walking four. Andy Konz threw a perfect seventh inning for the save.

The Knights jumped out on top Thursday, scoring a run in the top of the first as two Nashwauk-Keewatin errors and two hits helped Konz cross the plate. They would add a run in the third before the rain came as Darrin Haala reached on an infield single and eventually beat the throw home on a Chad Armbruster infield base hit.

The Spartans, after the game was picked up again on Friday, would knot the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Bob DeNucci and Mike Rahne scored the runs, with DeNucci crossing the plate on an error and Rahne tying it up as he scored on a third-strike passed ball.

That set the stage for another clutch hit, and it was Darrin Haala who delivered.

Adam Fischer started things with a base hit and would be the eventual game-winning run.

Left-hander Sam Martire took the loss for the Spartans, yielding two earned runs on five hits while fanning seven and walking three in a complete-game effort.

Championship

St. Agnes 061 207--16 13 4

St. Mary's 400 200-- 6 8 8

Berthiaume and Barrett; Dar.Haala, Konz (4), D.Schwartz (6) and Heiderscheidt. WP-Berthiaume, LP-Dar.Haala. 2B-Dar.Haala (SM), Menne (SA).

Semifinal

St. Mary's 101 001 0--3 5 1

Nash-Kee 000 020 0--2 3 4

D.Schwartz, Konz (7) and Armbruster; Martire and Gunelson. WP-Schwartz, LP-Martire, S-Konz.