St. Cloud erase deficit, edge New Ulm Blue

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Baseball coaches will tell you that bad things happen when you put men on base via the walk.

Even worse things transpire when you toss in some errors with the free passes.

St. Cloud used two walks, three errors and four hits -- two for extra bases -- to score five runs in the bottom of the second inning to erase a 4-1 New Ulm Blue lead to topple Blue 6-5 Friday in the Upper Midwest Classic.

Mitch Bragelman was the winning pitcher for the 76'ers, going five innings and giving up five runs. Blake Kraemer pitched the final two innings and struck out five including the first four batters he faced.

John Knisley took the loss for New Ulm Blue going the distance. But he was his own worst enemy, walking two, hitting a batter and committing two errors --all coming in the five-run St. Cloud second inning. After that, the righthander pitched a solid game, allowing only one hit the rest of the way while striking out five.

Blake Kraemer, Justin Finneman and Jake Bragelman all had two hits with Bragelman belting a double and triple. Finneman drove in two runs.

No one for New Ulm Blue had more than one hit and Bragelman allowed only one hit to New Ulm Blue batters after the first inning.

"We had one bad inning and it cost us the game," said New Ulm Blue coach Paul Buboltz. "We came out hard right away but after that, we did nothing."

New Ulm Blue, 1-1 in the Upper Midwest Classic, also used a walk to jump-start a big inning.

Matt Suess drew a walk to begin the first inning and Derik Johnson was hit by a Bragelman pitch with one out.Mark Rolloff's single to center scored Suess with Johnson taking third on the single. Joe Peters base hit to right plated Johnson for a 2-0 lead. Andy Budahn coaxed a two-out walk to load the bases for Dann Boettger who sliced a two-run single to right for a 4-0 cushion.

St. Cloud, a late replacement for Cold Spring in the tournament, cut one run off of that lead in the bottom of the inning. Blake Kraemer singled and stole second. A Mitch Bragelman groundout to first moved him to third and he would score on a two-out wild pitch by Knisley.

The 76'ers would add five runs in the second inning to take a lead that they would hold the rest of the way.

Brian Arnold drew a one-out walk and he would score on a triple to center by Jake Bragelman. Mitch Denne's bunt single scored Bragelman to cut the lead to 4-3. A throwing error by Knisley moved Denne to second and a double by Blake Kraemer brought in Denne to tie the game at 4 and Denne went to third on a throwing error by centerfielder Matt Suess. Andy Waletzke walked and a second error by Knisley allowed Kraemer to score for a 5-4 St. Cloud lead. Josh Finneman's base hit scored Waletzke to increase the St. Cloud lead to 6-4.

New Ulm bats, that had banged out three hits in the first inning, we quiet the rest of the way with only one hit - that an Adam Hoscheit bunt single in the fifth when Blue scored their final run.

Suess would be hit by a pitch following Hoscheit's base hit. A double steal moved runners into scoring position with a Derik Johnson groundout scoring Hoscheit.

"He (Bragelman) did a nice job of changing speeds on us (after the first inning)," said Buboltz. "We started swinging at curveballs out of the strike zone - he kept us off-balance. The three errrors that we had are unacceptable. We played well after that second inning but we have to play well all seven innings."

NEW ULM BLUE 400-010-0=5-5-3

ST.CLOUD 150-000-X=6-7-0

WP: Bragelman..LP: Knisley.

Legion Gold defeats

Omaha, 2-0 in Classic

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - New Ulm Legion Gold pounded out 16 hits -- with seven of them going for extra bases -- as they improved to 2-0 in the Upper Midwest Classic with a 13-3 win over the Omaha Bulldogs Friday night at Johnson Park.

The game was stopped in the bottom of the seventh inning when Gold scored seven runs, the final three coming on a pinch-hit, three-run home run by Bob Wellmann. Jace Marti also homered for New Ulm in the game.

Chris Cariveau turned in the second straight strong pitching performance for Gold, allowing only five hits while striking out four. Two of Omaha's runs were earned.

Scott Bunger took the loss for Omaha, going six innings and allowing all 16 runs. He struck out one.

Keith McClellan led the 16-hit attack, going 4-for-4 with Kyle Marti collecting three hits including a double and triple. Eric Austvold tripled with Jeff Dolan doubling.

Lee Kramolisch stroked a solo home run for the Bulldogs.

"I think that our guys were a little more relaxed tonight then Thursday," said Gold coach Dave Kunz. "We started out a little slow on offense but once we started to get on him, we hit the ball well."

New Ulm gathered 14 of their 16 hits in the final four innings.

"Everybody contributed to the win tonight.," Kunz said.

Omaha would plate the first run in the top of the first when Joe Johnson drew a one-out walk off Chris Cariveau. Lee Kramolisch followed by hammering a hard groundball towards third that Gold thirdbaseman Kyle Marti, who made a nice backhand stop. But Marti's throw got by firstbaseman Jace Marti, allowing Johnson to score.

The Bulldogs stay on top until New Ulm took the lead for good with three runs in the third.

Keith McClellan reached on a one-out infield single before Marti took Bunger's first offering over the fence in rightfield for a 2-1 New Ulm lead.

"Keith (McClellan) is a good lead-off hitter -- that allows me to put Eric Austvold down (in the fourth spot) in the line-up," Kunz said. "And Jace has really been hitting the ball well. I put him in that number two spot in the line-up and I am afraid to move him out of that spot."

Jamie Hoffmann followed with a single to left, swiped second and came home on Dusty Fleck's single to left for a 3-1 lead.

New Ulm added two more runs in the fourth,thanks to a little luck.

Kyle Marti singled and was sacrificed to second by Blake Thorson. He went to third on an Isaac Forstner base hit. With lefthanded hitting McClellan at the plate, Kunz called for the suicide squeeze bunt. McClellan missed the bunt and Marti was hung up between home and third but Omaha catcher Lee Kramolisch's throw to third went over Joey Labanowski's head and Marti scored.. McClellan then made amends for the miss by hitting RBI double on the next pitch to increase the lead to 5-1.

A fielder's choice and a Kyle Marti triple to deep center upped the lead to 6-1.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the top of the sixth with one run coming on a Kramolisch dinger to left and a later double play.

Gold then put the game away with seven runs.

Kyle Helget walked and went to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a McClellan single and error. McClellan stole second and reached third on an error on a Jace Marti groundball.

A wild pitch made it 8-3. Austvold's triple and Jeff Dolan's double saw New Ulm go up 10-3.

Jacob Merz walked before Wellman stepped to the plate and took the first pitch over the fence in leftfield.

While New Ulm Gold had a strong offensive showing, they also got that second strong mound performance as Cariveau followed Dusty Wilfahrt's one hitter Thursday with a five-hitter.,

"Chris did a good job and he is the kind of pitcher who can throw twice this weekend," Kunz said."I wanted him to throw against a decent team like Omaha. I am just hoping that we are around on Sunday for him to throw again."

OMAHA BULLDOGS 100-002=3-5-3

NEW ULM GOLD 003-217=13-16-2

WP: Cariveau. LP: Bunger. 2B: K. Marti (NU), McClellan (NU), Dolan (NU). 3B: K. Marti (NU), Austvold (NU). HR: J. Marti (NU), Kramolisch (O), Wellmann (NU).