NEW ULM - For New Ulm Jr. Legion, pitching depth was at a minimum going into Thursday's game with Springfield.
New Ulm could have had a game each day this week had Tuesday's contest with Sleepy Eye not been rained out.
Plus Jr. Legion is playing in a tournament in LaCrosse, Wisconsin starting today, where they are guaranteed at least five games.
New Ulm was just hoping to get out of the game with Springfield with as few of arms used as possible.
Jr. Legion used three pitchers and luckily the offense bailed New Ulm out as it came away with a 8-7 win in VFW play at Mueller Park.
"We are just trying to save pitchers," New Ulm coach Dave Buegler said. "We struggled with pitching, we just had too many walks."
The pitchers Jr. Legion did use struggled with control as they combined for six walks and three hit batters on the night.
Tim Kehren, making his first start of the season started the game and allowed five runs, three earned on four hits with five walks and two hit batters. He pitched 2 2/3 innings.
Brandon Johnson pitched 1 1/3 and allowed one run on a hit with a hit batter. Adam Loose closed out the game and allowed one run on four hits with a walk and strikeout.
It was the offense for Jr. Legion that kept them it the game as they pounded out 11 hits total.
"Our hitting is our strength this year," Buegler said. "We can score runs. I don't think that we have scored less than six runs in a game yet this year."
Springfield struck first with a run in the top of the first but New Ulm countered with three in the bottom half of the inning.
Springfield tied it in the second with two more runs but New Ulm went back up with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Springfield kept it close with two more in the third to make it 6-5. Jr. Legion added their final two runs in the bottom half of the inning to go up 8-6 and held on as Springfield added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to make the final score 8-7.
Tyler Marz took the loss for Springfield. He went the distance and allowed eight runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Zach Bisel led the Springfield offense going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Matt Vogel was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Ryan Beyer had two RBIs and Nick Kratz scored two runs with an RBI.
Springfield falls to 3-3 on the season and will play at Glencoe Saturday.
New Ulm was led by Aaron Pfaff, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Jason Shaul was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Kevin Larson was 2-for-3.
Jr. Legion (8-0) opens the LaCrosse Tournament with Eau Claire at 6 p.m. tonight.
"It was good to get out [of the long week] with a couple wins," Buegler said. "And some guys got in that don't see a lot of time on the weekends. It's good to get them in as many games as possible and get them ready for legion ball."
