Rochester downs Junior Legion

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Junior Legion coach Jay Backer said it best following Rochester's victory in the Junior Upper Midwest Championship.

"Our errors just plain killed us today," he said.

New Ulm's defense committed three errors in the first inning when Rochester scored three runs and was guilty of four others in the game as the Century Stars captured the 2003 Junior Upper Midwest Classic title with a 10-4 win over New Ulm.

Righthander Corey Sursely was the winning pitcher Rochester, going the distance. He struck out only two but was helped by three double plays turned by his infield defense.

Scott Knisley took the mound loss for New Ulm He went 4 1/3 innings and was charged with 10 runs on six hits. But he had little defensive help because the Junior Legion defense was guilty of six errors in his tenure on the mound.

Eight of Rochester's 10 runs were unearned.

Ronnie Olson and Tom Sheehan each had two hits for Rochester. Olson drove in two runs.

Josh Sabatino had two hits for New Ulm including a two-run home run over the right field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Backer felt that starting pitcher Scott Knisley did his job on the mound in getting the title game start. "He threw strikes -- that is what I asked him to do, but our defense just did not perform. It was a lack of concentration on their part. We tried to throw the ball before we caught it and tried to field the ball before it was in our glove."

The errors began right away for New Ulm. After Ronnie Olson led off with a single, Joe Goodew slapped a potential double play ball to shortstop JJ Germscheid who booted the ball. Drew Zafft's fly ball out to right field allowed Olson to take third. Goodew stole second and when catcher Ryan Turbes' throw went into center field, Olson scored for a 1-0 lead. Tom Sheehan followed with a base hit to right field and Goodew scored when second baseman Joey Geistfeld booted Bryan Denisen's ground ball for a 2-0 lead. Nick Curry's RBI single to center plated Sheehan for a 3-0 lead.

New Ulm came back with a single run in the bottom of the inning. Joey Geistfeld led off with a double and scored on a two-out wild pitch.

Rochester tacked on three more runs in the top of the third. Zafft and Sheehan singled to start the inning before Curry coaxed a one-out walk to load the bases. An infield single and an ensuing throwing error upped the Century Stars lead to 5-1. A groundout by Ben Oafson gave Rochester a 6-1 lead.

The Junior Legion had a scoring threat in the bottom of the inning, advancing a runner to third but had him picked off third for the final out.

"This was our worst game of the season," commented Backer. 'We had physical and mental errors."

New Ulm pieced together a run in the fourth, scoring without the aid of a hit when Rochester turned the first of their three double plays.

Rochester scored four insurance runs in the fifth on two hits and two more New Ulm errors to assume a 10-2 lead.

Meanwhile, New Ulm bats were quiet in that same span with only three hits. "I was surprised," said Backer about the lack of hitting by New Ulm." With the type of pitcher that they were throwing, I was real surprised."

New Ulm put two runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh when Mikale Gustafson singled and scored on Josh Sabatino's dinger to right field.

'We had a good tournament excluding the last game," said Backer.

ROCHESTER 303-040-0=10-8-3

JUNIOR LEGION 100-100-2=4-6-7

ROCHESTER 3,

MAPLE GROVE 1

Rochester got to the title game by upending the defending champion Maple Grove 3-1. Nate Hoffmann was the winning pitcher for Rochester. Rochester scored two runs in the bottom of the third and a single run in the sixth before Maple Grove scored a run in the too of the seventh.

NU JUNIOR LEGION 17

EXCELSIOR 7

NEW ULM -What do you do when an opposing team scores seven runs in an inning?

Come back and top that.

Excelsior scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to erase a 5-0 New Ulm lead.,

But that lead did not last long - it lasted one-half inning. The New Ulm Junior Legion sent 16 men to the plate in the top of the fifth inning, scoring 12 runs to hammer Excelsior 17-7 Sunday morning in a semi-final game of the Junior Upper Midwest Classic.

The game was stopped in the bottom of the fifth because of the 10-run lead rule.

The 12 runs in one inning by New Ulm is a Junior Classic Tournament record as is the 12 straight New Ulm batters who reached base in the fifth inning before an out was recorded.

Adam Nilson picked up the win in relief of starter Josh Sabatino who was cruising along through three innings.

Excelsior starter John Overbeck took the loss, giving up 10 runs through four innings.

Joey Geistfeld led the 11-hit New Ulm attack with three hits. Tyler Morgan, JJ Germscheid and Scott Knisley each had two hits. Knisley drove in three runs with Morgan, Brad Kraus and Germscheid all driving in two.

New Ulm took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning off Overbeck not with the long ball but with three bunts -- two sacrifice and one that went for a base hit -- to take that first inning lead.

New Ulm added another run in the top of the fourth.

But Excelsior countered with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with the big blow being a three-run home run to right field by Cary McLaughlin that tied the game at 5-5. Brett Tuma's two-run single lifted Excelsior to a 7-5 lead.

Germscheid started the monster inning with a single to center and went to second on a balk by Overbeck before he walked Brett Fleck -- the first of eight free passes given to New Ulm hitters in the inning. Knisley's single preceded five straight walks and an Excelsior error made it 11-7. Germscheid's two-run single made the lead 13-7. Fleck and Knisley walked before Excelsior recorded the first New Ulm out -- that being a sacrifice fly by Mikale Gustafson that scored Germscheid for a 15-7 lead.

A fielder's choice added a run before Tyler Morgan singled in Knisley for a 17-7 lead.

"We just wanted to stay focused after we got down," Morgan said, 'Their pitching was not the best so we stayed focused and took the walks."

NEW ULM 400-1(12)=17-11-2

EXCELSIOR 000-70=7-7-4