Legion Gold

sneaks past

Wabasso

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- It wasn't a pretty win but nevertheless, it was a win.

Too-seeded New Ulm Legion Gold fought back from an 8-4 Wabasso lead in the top of the fourth inning with five runs, and then added a big insurance run in the sixth to escape with a 10-8 win Saturday afternoon in the Second District American Legion Baseball Tournament.

Jacob Mertz picked up the win, pitching four innings in relief of starter Chris Cariveau. Cariveau went the first three-plus innings and gave up eight runs.

Mertz, a left-hander, allowed only one hit the rest of the way while striking out four.

Matt Samyn took the loss for Wabasso, going 3 2-3 innings. He was charged with nine runs.

Justin Frank allowed one run, but neither Frank nor Samyn was backed by solid defense. Wabasso was guilty of seven errors in the game.

Keith McClellan led New Ulm with two hits and two RBI while Brandon Rolloff also drove in two runs.

Samyn led Wabasso with two hits while Travis Kottke drove in two runs. Dan Mathiowetz blasted a solo home run for Wabasso, which out-hit New Ulm 8-7 in the game.

"Both teams seemed to make a lot of mistakes today," said Legion Gold coach Dave Kunz. "There was that one inning (the fourth) when both teams scored five runs and I think that was because both teams let down a little bit."

Wabasso (14-6) took a fast 2-0 lead over Gold and Cariveau in the first inning. Brent Baune walked and stole second. A Nathan Baune sacrifice bunt placed him at third. Samyn's single scored him and he later scored on Tom VanLoy's two-out single.

New Ulm plated one run in the bottom of the inning when McClellan walked, stole second and scored on Jace Marti's base hit.

Two hit batters, a one-out walk and a two-run single by McClellan gave Gold a 3-2 lead with a Jamie Hoffmann sacrifice fly to right lifting New Ulm to a 4-2 lead.

Post 263 pulled to within 4-3 in the top of the third inning when Mathiowetz crushed a Cariveau pitch over the fence in left field.

Then came the inning that saw each team score five runs with a combined five physical errors and one big mental error.

Wabasso pieced together their five-run inning on an error by Kyle Marti followed by a Luke Guetter double. Keith Baune then laid down a successful suicide squeeze bunt that scored Adam Schumacher, who reached on the error. When New Ulm forgot about Guetter in an attempt to retire Baune at second, Guetter scored for a 5-4 lead. A Nathan Baune RBI single ended Cariveau's night as Mertz took over. He allowed a two-run single by Kottke for an 8-4 lead. But it would be the last hit allowed by Mertz.

Gold came back in the bottom of the inning when Dusty Wilfahrt reached on an error by shortstop Brent Baune and stole second. He came home on McClellan's single and an error by right fielder Nathan Baune. A stolen base and Brent Baune's second error of the inning -- this one on an Eric Austvold grounder -- cut the lead to 8-6. Singles by Dusty Fleck and Kyle Marti pulled Gold to within 8-7. A wild pitch and a two-run single by Rolloff lifted New Ulm to a 9-8 lead and ended Samyn's day on the mound.

Reliever Frank allowed Gold to score once in the sixth when Fleck reached second on a two-base error by Brent Baune. A wild pitch and a Kyle Helget sacrifice fly gave New Ulm a 10-8 lead.

"We showed a little bit of character by the way that we came back -- this team did not want to lose," said Kunz. "They got behind and they knew that they made some mistakes. But they stuck with the gameplan. We knew that Wabasso would be tough. We played them last year in a close game. They are a good baseball team. They are well-coached."

But Kunz took his hat off to the left-handed Mertz, who put a plug in the Wabasso offense.

"He did a super job today -- he stopped them from scoring and gave us the chance to get back into the game," Kunz said.

WABASSO 201 500 0--8 8 7

NEW ULM GOLD 130 501 x--10 7 2

WP: Mertz. LP: Samyn. HR: Mathiowetz (W).