Big Jr. Legion inning stops Post 800

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Junior Legion coach Jay Backer said that this year's team is the best hitting team that he has had in the last three years.

Thursday night did nothing to dispel that.

The Junior Legion broke open a 3-2 game with seven runs in the top of the fifth inning, pounding out 12 hits in the game as they got past Sleepy Eye Post 800 12-7 in the opening round of the 2004 Junior Upper Midwest Classic.

Right-hander Gary Wilfahrt got the win, going the distance, striking out three and scattering six hits.

Joey Walter went the first 4 2/3 innings and was charged with eight runs and took the loss.

Andy Kitzberger and Tom Fischer each had three hits for the Junior Legion with Dan Drexler, David Rodenberg and Jon Suess each collecting two hits. Rodenberg drove in three runs with Drexler and Suess plating two.

"I thought that it was a pretty well-played game with a lot of good hitting by New Ulm," assistant coach Bob Helget said. "It was an up-and-down game for us."

Sleepy Eye took a fast 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Joey Walter walked, stole second and went to third on Alan Woitas' groundout. He scampered home on an Andrew Woitas groundout.

That lead held until the third when New Ulm knotted the game. David Rodenberg led off with an opposite-field single to left and swiped second. Suess reached on an error that allowed Rodenberg to take third and then score on an Andy Kitzberger double.

New Ulm increased that lead to 3-1 in the fourth on a Fischer single and a double off of the bat of Drexler. A Rodenberg groundout and a wild pitch allowed two runs to score.

But Post 800 cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth on a groundout.

In the fifth, New Ulm would send 12 men to the plate and score seven runs on six hits.

"We have been averaging nine runs a game -- we have hit the ball all year," Backer said.

Jonathon Curry's bases-loaded sacrifice fly scored Ryan Domeier. Tom Fischer's infield single loaded the bases for Drexler, who delivered a two-run single, ending Walter's day and bringing in Andrew Woitas.

A wild pitch and a two-run single by Rodenberg moved New Ulm ahead 8-2. An error and a wild pitch upped the lead to 9-2 before Suess doubled in a run.

But Post 800 would come back and score four times on just one hit, with three walks, three wild pitches, a passed ball and an error, making up the difference in a strange fifth inning.

"Gary (Wilfahrt) probably should have thrown in between our long inning," Backer said. "He may have gotten tight with that long inning. We have the tendency to let down when we have that big lead, and tonight it almost came back to bite us."

New Ulm countered Post 800 with two insurance runs in the sixth. Kitzberger and Wilfahrt singled, with Kitzberger eventually scoring on an error. Tom Fischer's double plated the final New Ulm run.

"I was happy with our base-running. I always try and be aggressive," Backer said. "I expect the kids to be aggressive on the bases. I was not happy with the way we got quiet when we got that big lead. We cannot do that again in our next game."

JUNIOR LEGION 001 272 0 -- 12 12 3

SLEEPY EYE VFW 100 140 0 -- 7 6 5