U18 trades comebacks with SpringfieldNew Ulm wins game one in seventh, Springfield wins nightcap in sixth

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- After the way the New Ulm under-18 came back in the bottom of the seventh inning with back-to-back triples by Liz Miheve and April DeVos to beat Springfield 5-4, the nightcap was a letdown.

In the second game, Springfield turned around and mirrored New Ulm's effort, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning with two singles, a double and a triple to win 5-3.

"After our comeback in the first game, it was really nice to be up in the first couple of innings [in the second game]," said Miheve, who also scored one of the runs in the second game. "Then in the last inning, it kind of went down the drain; it was a big upset -- we wanted to win."

In game one, Allie Deibele had a leadoff single for Springfield and put them up by one when Leah Reiner hit a double. Neither team scored again until New Ulm tied the game in the sixth when Sam Schmidt hit an RBI single to drive DeVos home. Even though Springfield had a pair of doubles by Ashley Tauer and Julia Grams, accompanied by three runs, New Ulm came back with their four to win the game.

"It was close until the end," Leah Reiner said. "We had one bad inning that got us -- we had a couple of errors that cost us a couple of runs at the end, and they got a couple of hits."

New Ulm players also felt that they had a few too many mistakes in the game.

"In the first game, everyone made mistakes," Miheve said. "Then in the last inning, we were like 'We're down, and we've gotta get it up.'

"After the win, we relaxed; it was a nice comeback, and it lifted us up."

And New Ulm played 5 1/2 strong innings. They had given up one run in the first when Springfield's Leah Reiner smacked a base hit to score Christa Reiner, who had stretched a base hit into a double on a New Ulm outfield error, but New Ulm scored one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take the lead.

Deibele had a leadoff single for Springfield, scoring on a passed ball. Christa Reiner hit a single and scored on Leah Reiner's double, who then scored on Missa Altermatt's triple. Altermatt scored on that play after Schmidt bobbled the ball in center field.

"We did a lot better hitting-wise altogether," Leah Reiner said. "We came back and took 'em."

Vanessa Achman got the win in the first game for New Ulm, giving up four runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking two. In the second-game loss, Achman gave up five runs on six hits for New Ulm.

Schumacher took the loss in the first game with five runs on seven hits and five walks, striking out seven. In the second game, Schumacher had two walks and one strikeout, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Vanessa Remus and DeVos went 2-for-4 in game one, and Achman and Schmidt were both 2-for-4. For Springfield, Christa Reiner and Leah Reiner were both 2-for-3 in game two.

New Ulm hosts Sibley East at 6 p.m. Thursday at Harman 1 in a doubleheader.