Brewers rally to win

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It was another chapter in the magic of Johnson Park.

Jim Eckstein's wild pitch with the bases loaded in the last of the ninth inning scored Troy Kamm from third and gave the New Ulm Brewers a 10-9 win over Sleepy Eye in Tomahawk East League action.

Sleepy Eye held a commanding 8-0 lead after 6 1/2 innings.

Chris Peters picked up the win.

Andy Konz took the loss for Sleepy Eye.

With the score knotted at 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kamm led off with a single off of Konz and went to second on Corey Schaefer's sacrifice bunt. After Konz struck out Craig Spelbrink for the second out, Sleepy Eye manager Ralph Zwaschska elected to bring in Eckstein. The righthander walked Troy Kamm before deciding to intentionally walk Jamie Hoffmann to load the bases.

Two pitches later, Eckstein tossed one to the backstop and Kamm scored.

Travis Thorson, Scott Schaefer and Troy Kamm all had two hits with Schaefer driving in three runs.

Cody Walter had three hits for Sleepy Eye -- two doubles and a triple -- and drove in four runs.

But it appeared that a Brewer win was out of the question as the Brewers booted the ball around as the Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first on two New Ulm errors and a Jim Eckstein RBI single.

That lead went to 4-0 in the next inning when Jadon Witte singled and went to second on an error, one of six errors in the game for the Brewers. Loren Havemeier's fly ball out moved him to third before Kelly Krzmarzick singled him home. New Ulm starting picher Craig Spelbrink walked Dusty Mangen before a wild pitch moved both runners up a base. Trent Weicherding's broken bat single scored Krzmarzick before Cody Walter doubled home Mangen.

A two-out walk to Weicherding and a RBI double by Walter - his second of the game, moved Sleepy Eye out to a 5-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings.

The Indians tacked on two more in the sixth on Walter's two-run double.

Sleepy Eye made it 8-0 in the top of the seventh off of reliever Tyson Anderson on a wild pitch.

But then the Brewers started their incredible comeback.

New Ulm would send 11 men to the plate in that inning and score six runs.

Scott O'Brien's single began the rally. A single by Troy Kamm off of Indian starter Tom Beito preceeded a free pass to Corey Schaefer. Randy Braun relieved Beito and allowed an RBI single by Craig Spelbrink. A Travis Thorson sacrifice fly, an error and a bloop single by Jamie Hoffmann cut the once insermountable lead to 8-3. Scott Schaefer's RBI single scored a run. A walk to Peters and a passed ball made it 8-5. Braun then plunked both Todd Hoffmann and Scott O'Brien to cut the lead to 8-6.

Brooks Deibele RBI double in the eighth lifted the Indians to a 9-6 lead.

But the Brewers would tie the game in the bottom of the eighth scoring three runs -- after two were out. Thorson singled and Hoffmann reached on an error. Scott Schaefer's single plated Thorson to slice the lead to 9-7. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position for Chris Peters whose groundball was mishandled by shortstop Trent Weicherding as two runs scored to tie the game setting the stage for the winning run in the ninth.

SLEEPY EYE 130 102 110 9-11-4

BREWERS 000 000 631 10-11-6

WP: Peters. LP: Konz.