Kaiserhoff falls to Marshall 12-10

Special to The Journal from The Independent of Marshall

MARSHALL -- Up 9-1 after four innings, Marshall seeemed to have complete control of Wednesday's playoff series game with the New Ulm Kaiserhoff. But New Ulm fought back, coming within two of the A's, only to fall 12-10 to Marshall.

Marshall leads the best-of-three amateur playoff series 1-0. The two teams will face off again Friday in New Ulm at 8 p.m..

Marshall starter Barry Wohler walked five batters while striking out two in five innings. Relieving Wohler, Robert Weaver had four strikeouts and one walk in two innings.

"We'll take the win any way we can get it," said A's manager Trent Sukalski.

"I was a little let down (with our pitching). Barry walked some guys that cost us. You just can't walk that many against a team like New Ulm."

The Kasierhoff was able to turn many of those walks into runs.. In the fifth inning, New Ulm rallied back from a 9-1 deficit with five runs off of three hits -- including a triple and a home run.

"Their pitching wasn't as strong as it is usually so we tried to take advantage of that," said New Ulm manager Brady Ranweiler. "We just stayed in the game and never gave up."

For Marshall, Bryan Francis was the entire ninth inning. Trailing the A's by two, New Ulm had one of its power hitters -- Tom Steinbach -- leading off with other threats on deck. Francis struck out all three batters.

Outside of its pitching, Marshall played a near flawless game. With 11 hits and 12 runs, the A's bats were hot at the plate, especially Matt Tiggas. Tiggas was 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run and three doubles and three RBI for the night. Also, Brendan Rokke was 4-for-5 with four singles.

New Ulm took the lead at 1-0 when Landon Rathman hit a home run to center field.

If Marshall can stay strong Friday, New Ulm will have to come up with some crucial plays. But New Ulm is capable of that.

The Kaiserhoff's best quality is its ability to stay in every game and fight back when down.

New Ulm will also have its big gun, Aaron Heitzman, on the mound.

"We'll have our ace on Friday," Ranweiler said. "(Heitzman) always seems to throw better in New Ulm than he does (in Marshall). . . . the team that makes the big plays will be the team that wins."

New Ulm 010 500 4 - 10 8 1

Marshall 017 030 X - 12 11 2

NU--Ryan Wellman, Aaron Dolan (4) and Cary Ranweiler. M-Barry Wohler, Robert

Weaver (6), Bryan Francis (8) and Derrick Jenniges. WP-Bohler. LP-Wellman.

2B: M-Matt Tiggas (3), David Tapper, Derrick Jenniges. 3B: NU-Joey Schugel, Brady Ranweiler. HR: NU-Landon Rathman; M-Matt Tiggas.