Pitching pushes Gold past Excelsior

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

ROCHESTER -- For the third straight game, New Ulm Legion Gold got another solid pitching performance.

This time it was right-hander Craig Spelbrink who held a strong Excelsior team to just three hits as Gold scored two runs in the fourth and another run in the fifth en route to a 3-1 winner's bracket game win at Mayo Field in the Minnesota State American Legion Baseball Tournament.

New Ulm (35-4) will meet Coon Rapids at 7 p.m. today, also at Mayo Field. The winner of that game will be assured of a regional berth.

Spelbrink struck out three and ended the game turning a double play. He issued four walks.

Marcus McKenzie took the loss for Excelsior (46-18). He struck out seven and allowed five hits. But three of those came in the two-run Gold fourth inning.

Rob Geistfeld belted a double for Gold with Spelbrink adding a triple -- his third triple of the tournament.

Pat Farrell had two of Excelsior's three hits.

"This was a huge win for us," commented Gold center fielder John Enter. "We talked about this game earlier (in the day) and we wanted to get in the driver's seat (with a win)."

"Craig pitched a strong game," said Gold coach Dave Kunz. "He kept the ball down low, the umpire was not generous (with the strike zone), but he picked his spots. We played very good defense (turning a big first-inning double play)."

That defense of New Ulm's bailed Spelbrink out of some early-inning trouble when he plunked Excelsior lead-off hitter Zac Ludwigsen to start the game. He then walked Zach Peterson to put runners on first and second with none out.

Jack Commerstad followed with a hard grounder to third baseman Travis Thorson, who stepped on third for the force out and then retired Commerstad at first for the double play. Spelbrink then retired Joe Levitt on a fly out to right field.

New Ulm mounted a mild threat in the second inning off of the left-handed McKenzie, who entered the game with a 9-2 mark. Joey Schugel drove a one-out single and swiped second after two were out. But McKenzie got Rob Geistfeld swinging to end the threat and the inning.

Excelsior put together another serious scoring threat against Spelbrink in the third inning as Nate Kohler led off with a walk and went to second on a Derrick Madson sacrifice bunt. A Ludwigsen ground out advanced him to third before Spelbrink got Peterson to end the inning on a ground out to second baseman Dusty Wilfahrt.

Gold got to McKenzie for two big runs in the fourth inning. Jamie Hoffmann led off with a single and took second on a Travis Thorson sacrifice bunt. A Joey Schugel deep fly out to right moved Hoffmann to third before John Enter, the leading RBI man on New Ulm, delivered with a single to center.

Geistfeld, who was fanned by McKenzie in the first inning, got a measure of revenge when he drilled a double to center that easily scored Enter for a 2-0 New Ulm lead.

Excelsior sliced that lead in half in the bottom of the inning when Commerstad led off with a double and scampered to third on a Levitt ground out. Pat Farrell brought in Commerstad with a double.

"My slider and curveball combination was working well for me tonight,"said Spelbrink, who improved his personal record to 8-2. "I threw my changeup a few times, but I wasn't getting it across."

New Ulm pushed across a big run in the top of the fifth and it was Spelbrink who did it with the bat again, leading off with a triple that center fielder Pat Farrell apparently lost in the lights. Spelbrink scored on a fielder's choice and catcher's obstruction on an Eric Austvold grounder.

"Craig is hitting the ball very well," Kunz said. "I normally do not let my pitchers hit but he has been hitting the ball so well that I felt that he should be."

In the sixth inning, Excelsior again put a threat up. Farrell lined a one-out single to center before McKenzie hammered a line drive back toward Spelbrink that hit him in the thigh. But he still had the presence of mind to throw out McKenzie and then got Glover on a fly out to center field.

"He was out there competing," said Kunz. "I went out there to talk to him (after he was hit in the thigh. He had pitched such a great game that I didn't want to put him in a position where he could possibly lose the game. I got outvoted 2-1 (to take him out) by Craig and (catcher) Rob Geistfeld."

Spelbrink then ended the game with New Ulm's second twinkilling of the game. Kohler walked before Spelbrink retired pinch-hitter J.J. Herron on a called third strike. Ludwigsen then lined a shot back at Spelbrink, who gloved it and tossed to first baseman Schugel to retire Kohler for the third out and end the game.

NEW ULM GOLD 000 210 0--3 5 1

EXCELSIOR 000 100 0--1 3 2

WP: Craig Spelbrink. LP: Marcus McKenzie. 2B: Geistfeld (NU), Commerstad (E), Farrell (E). 3B: Spelbrink (NU)