NEW ULM - During the first three innings of Friday's Junior Upper Midwest Classic baseball game between New Ulm VFW Silver and Hutchinson, the sound of bat hitting ball was almost non-stop.
Within that span, at least one run crossed the plate in every half inning and the two teams combining to score 13 runs, with Hutchinson pulling out to a 9-4 lead.
The scoring slowed down the rest of the way, but Hutchinson produced just enough runs to end the game due to the 10-run rule in the sixth inning, ending up with a 14-4 win.
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Staff photo by Steve Muscatello
New Ulm VFW Silver’s Brandon Beranek drives a pitch during Silver’s Junior Upper Midwest Classic game against Hutchinson Friday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.
New Ulm pitchers Bailey Batt and Brandon Beranek did a good job of keeping the ball in the strike zone throughout the game, allowing only three walks combined, but the combination of a 15-hit Hutchinson attack and four New Ulm fielding errors was too much for Silver to overcome.
"We talked about a couple things before the game with the gentlemen and we set ourselves a couple goals, and one of them was to go out and throw strikes, and I think we accomplished it," New Ulm head coach Ed Tietel said. "We did a pretty good job of throwing strikes, we didn't walk too many guys, and I'm happy with their pitching. We gave up some hits, but you've got to throw strikes for them to get hits."
New Ulm got the scoring started in the top of the first, with Luke Irmiter setting the tone for the game by ripping a two-out triple to the gap in left-center field. Beranek (2-for-3, run, RBI) followed with a double to score courtesy runner Nick Vogel and give Silver a 1-0 lead.
Hutchinson knotted the score in the bottom of the first, but New Ulm retook the lead when Matt Rowley (2-for-3, run, two RBI) led off the second with a triple and came home on an RBI single by Alex Guggisberg.
However, a five-run second by Hutchinson quickly erased Silver's lead, making the score 6-2. New Ulm cut the score to 6-4 when Rowley recorded a two-run double in the third to score Beranek and Andrew Stewart (1-for-3, run), but Hutchinson scored three more runs in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding lead that it didn't relinquish.
Although New Ulm recorded just two hits the rest of the way - singles by pinch hitters Jesse Kuck and Mitchell Tanley in the sixth inning - Tietel was pleased with his team's offensive showing.
"That was another one of our goals was to get clutch hitting... we got the clutch hits in the first part of the game, that scored the runs," Tietel said. "I'm proud of the guys, we definitely covered our goals today."
Batt (three innings pitched, 10 hits, nine runs, eight earned runs, one walk, one strikeout) was relieved by Beranek in the bottom of the fourth. Beranek ended up pitching two-plus innings, allowing five hits and five runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out one.
Chandler Newcomb paced Hutchinson's offense by going 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI. He recorded a bases-loaded single with no outs in the bottom of the sixth that put his team ahead by 10 runs to produce the walk-off win.
Also making top contributions for Hutchinson were Keegan Macemon (2-for-3, two runs, four RBI, double), Paxton Jordahl (2-for-4, run, RBI), Jake Wendland (2-for-4, run, three RBI, two triples) and Tristan Kuseske (2-for-3, two runs, double).
With the win, Hutchinson improved to 2-0 in the tournament. Hutchinson will continue tournament play at 9:30 a.m. today against Wayzata (2-0) in Essig and will then take on Sleepy Eye (2-0) at 4 p.m. at Mueller Park.
New Ulm Silver (0-2) will take on Rochester (0-2) today at 10:30 a.m. and will then play Wayzata at 5 p.m., with both games to be played at Johnson Park.
"[Our goal is] pretty much the same thing - go out and throw strikes," Tietel said. "We've done a good job of it in our first two games in the tournament, we've gone out and thrown strikes. That's all I can ask of the guys, is go out and throw strikes and give our defense a chance to make the plays for them."