New Ulm Blue falls to Sleepye Eye, tops Fairmont

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Darrin Haala limited New Ulm Blue bats to six hits and the righthander struck out 10 as Sleepy Eye downed New Ulm Blue 8-4 Thursday afternoon at Mueller Park.

Haala walked only three in getting the win for Sleepy Eye (14-8).

Joe Peters was tagged with the complete-game loss for Blue.

Riley Jensen led the Post 7 offense, going 3-for-4 with four RBI from his number nine slot in the batting order.

Chris Reinarts, Nick Windschitl and Brett Braulick each had two hits for Sleepy Eye.

Andy Kamm had two of Blue's hits and drove in two runs.

"We gave up to many hits and it came down to that," said coach Paul Buboltz. "I was happy with the way that we came out -- our last five games we have come out pretty flat. We played a better game today than we have in our last five games."

"Darrin threw a good game today -- he got ahead (of the hitters) most of the time," said Post 7 coach Bruce Belseth. "He is a little disappointed in himself in some of his (four) walks. But is was a good outing for Darrin."

Sleepy Eye took a 1-0 lead off the lefthanded Peters in the first inning when Chris Reinarts singled and swiped second. An Andy Cook groundout moved him to third and he scored on a Josh Hadley sacrifice fly to right.

Sleepy Eye added three more runs in the second when Nick Windschitl singled and both Jeremy Ibberson and Brett Braulick walked.

Riley Jensen then delivered a three-run triple to center.

Blue cut the lead to 4-1 in the home half of the second when Mark Rolloff walked, took second on a passed ball and went to third on a Peters' groundout.

He scored on an Andy Kamm base hit.

Both teams scored twice in the fourth.

Sleepy Eye used singles by Windschitl and Braulick and RBI singles by Jensen and Reinarts for a 6-1 lead.

"(Jensen) had that big triple (in the second) and that helped us a lot," Belseth said. "When you put two good high school teams together, we have different players getting key hits. We mixed up the line-up tonight and got some players into the game."

New Ulm counter-punched in the bottom of the inning when Derik Johnson and Rolloff singled and scored on a wild pitch and a double steal.

Post 7 pushed across two more runs in the fifth on a wild pitch and a Braulick sacrifice fly.

Blue tallied their final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth on a walk to Peters, a wild pitch and a Kamm single.

"We came out ready to play today but we just got beat by a better team," Buboltz said.

SLEEPY EYE 130-220-0=8-14-0

NEW ULM BLUE 010-201-0=4-6-0

Blue 10, Fairmont 6

New Ulm Legion Blue erased a 4-0 Fairmont lead after 1/2 inning with two first-inning runs and five more in the third to down Post 36 10-6 Thursday night at Mueller Park.

Andy Walden got the win for Blue (8-8) going 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

Derek Goerndt took the loss for Fairmont (4-10), going five innings and allowing all 10 runs.

Andy Budahn paced the 12- hit New Ulm attack going 3-for-4 with four RBI. Mark Rolloff and John Knisley each had two hits with Rolloff and Nate Carroll both doubling.

Mike Haycraft, Simon Lueth and Mike Berhow each collected two hits for Fairmont.

"We got down right away -- they had a few hits in the first inning -- and we did not make plays that should have been made," said Blue coach Paul Buboltz. "They weren't really errors but they should have been made but after that, we played fairly well until the (seventh) inning."

Post 36 plated four runs off of Walden on three consecutive singles by Mike Haycraft, Simon Lueth and Mike Berhow to load the bases with no outs. An Alex Schmidt sacrifice fly brought in one run and Josh Peterson's single made it 2-0. An error and an RBI single by Mike Wolschager upped the lead to 4-0.

But Blue sliced away at that lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning.Derik Johnson reached on a fielder's choice and Mark Rolloff singled. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position and an Andy Budahn single to right scored both runners.

New Ulm took a 7-4 lead in the third, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five runs.

An error, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for Mark Rolloff who reached on an error, allowing Matt Suess who reached on the boot to score. Budahn' second single of the game sent Nate Carroll and Derik Johnson home for a 5-4 New Ulm lead. Singles by John Knisley and Joe Peters increased the lead to 6-4 before Danny Boettger drove in the fifth run of the inning with a single to center.

Blue tacked on two more runs in the fourth on doubles by Nate Carroll and Rolloff, a third Budahn single and an error.

"Andy (Budahn) has hit the ball well when we play Fairmont," Buboltz said."The last time we played them, he ripped the ball hard also."

Fairmont scored a run in the fifth on an error before Blue matched that with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Derik Johnson.

Post 36 brought in their last run of the game in the seventh courtesy of two New Ulm errors.

"We hit the ball well this game," Buboltz said. "We fought back and I like that."

FAIRMONT 400-010-1=6-10-4

BLUE 205-210=X=10-12-2