Legion Gold falls to Coon Rapids

Gold heading to Regionals in Cedar Rapids

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

ROCHESTER -- In New Ulm Legion Gold's first four games of the 2001 Minnesota State American Legion Baseball Tournament, they were a team that scored first and then held onto that lead.

Sunday afternoon, one bad inning changed all that and cost New Ulm their sixth state championship.

Coon Rapids scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to erase a 4-2 New Ulm lead and then added two insurance runs in the home half of the sixth inning to capture the 2001 American Legion Championship with a 9-5 win over New Ulm at Mayo Field in Rochester.

University of Minnesota-bound lefthander Pat Thielke picked up the pitching win for Post 334, now 38-11. He took over for starter Brandon Olson in the second inning after New Ulm had taken a 4-0 lead. The southpaw held Gold bats to two hits and one run in his 3 2/3 innings of work.

Bobby Wellmann was tagged with the loss for New Ulm Gold (36-5) also in relief. He took over for starter Andy Stolt who allowed five runs in four innings on the mound.

Mike Patterson paced the 12 hit Coon Rapids' attack, going 3-for-4 and driving in four runs, two coming on a sixth inning home run.

Joey Schugel led New Ulm with a 3-for-4 performance and drove in two runs.

Both teams advance to regional play this week, with Coon Rapids heading towards Lancaster, Ohio for the Great Lakes Regional while New Ulm Gold heads south to the Central Plains Regional in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"We had that one bad inning and it seemed to snowball for them," said Gold coach Dave Kunz. "We got behind in the counts (to their hitters) and whenever you do that, you make the other team's hitters that much better because they can sit on a certain pitch and that is just what they did."

Early in the game, it appeared that New Ulm Gold was going to be in control again when they scored three first-inning runs off righthanded starter Olson.

Brandon Reinarts got New Ulm going in the first inning when he singled to left with one out and scampered to third on an errant pickoff throw to first by Olson. Reinarts scored the first run of the game when Jamie Hoffmann legged out an infield single to shortstop.

Hoffmann swiped second and went to third on Travis Thorson's single that bounced over the head of third baseman Dustin Wolf.

An Olson wild pitch allowed Thorson to take second before Schugel upped the score to 3-0 with a two-run single up the middle.

New Ulm used a one-out walk to Andy Stolt in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead and end Olson's day on the mound.

Eric Austvold followed that free pass with a single to right field that saw Stolt hustle to third and Coon Rapids' manager Tom Yelle replace Olson with the lefthanded Thielke.

Thielke uncorked a wild pitch that plated Stolt before fanning Reinarts and getting Hoffmann on a lazy fly ball to center field.

"I think that maybe being up (4-0) we may have gotten a little relaxed at the plate," Kunz said. "We have hit lefthanded pitchers as well as righthanded pitchers all year; I couldn't tell you why we didn't hit him better than we did."

But Thielke's ability to hold New Ulm down may have sparked Coon Rapids' comeback.

Post 334 cut into that lead scoring two runs in the third inning after a great defensive play by Travis Thorson at third to get the first out.

Tony Boxwell singled to center and Danny Mossey worked Stolt for a two-out walk. Dan Anderson, who was named the tournament's MVP, reached on an infield single to load the bases.

Mike Patterson singled to right to score both Boxwell and Mossey and pulled to within 4-2.

After Thielke set down Gold in order in the top of the fourth, Coon Rapids did something that no other team had done in the state tournament against New Ulm -- take a lead.

Adam Gronlund led off with a hard double off of the glove of Thorson at third. Joey Olson singled him to third before Stolt walked Tom Newman to load the bases.

Boxwell then laced a single to left that sliced away from left fielder Craig Spelbrink that scored two runs and knotted the game at 4-4.

Dustin Wolf's sacrifice bunt off reliever Bob Wellmann moved runners to second and third. A Mossey double gave Coon Rapids a 5-4 lead. Two Wellmann wild pitches later in the inning gave Coon Rapids a 7-4 lead.

"'We have been in that situation before (trailing) during the regular season but we could not get it done; he (Thielke) is an excellent pitcher. That is why he is going to the 'U'."

Gold would muster a run in the fifth when Reinarts was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a Schugel single. But being behind hampered the normally aggressive Gold's tactics.

"Being behind ( 7-4) you have to be more cautious and rely on a big hit here and there. We could not put the pressure on that we wanted to. "commented Kunz.

Patterson's two run home run in the sixth ended the game but not New Ulm's season as they head to Cedar Rapids. Iowa where they will meet a familiar foe in the first round of the Central Plains Regional.

"We will play (Nebraska champion ) Creighton Prep ( a team that New Ulm beat for the championship of this year's Upper Midwest Classic)," Kunz said. " They will be ready for us and we will be ready for them."

NEW UM GOLD 310-010-0 = 6 - 7-2

COON RAPIDS 002-502-X = 9-10-2