Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm VFW Silver second baseman William Schabert tries to tag out Sleepy Eye baserunner Nick Labat Thursday at Mueller Park in New Ulm. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NEW ULM — Sleepy Eye Post 800’s heads-up baserunning was enough to steal a victory away from New Ulm VFW Silver on Thursday.

Post 800 defeated Silver 5-4 at Mueller Park.

Cole Backer started for Silver, allowing six hits and two walks for two runs, while fanning seven. He pitched five innings before being replaced by Tony Geiger.

Kyle Domeier picked up the complete-game win for Post 800, allowing 10 hits and four runs with two strikeouts.

Sleepy Eye had a 2-0 lead after the first inning, led by RBI singles from Jacob Berg and Luke Mielke, but trailed 4-2 after a four-run third inning by Silver. Will Schabert was Silver’s hero during that third inning with a three-run double down the right-field line.

Schabert was 2 for 3 for Silver along with Jackson Bode and Hunter Hulke who each went 2 for 4. Cole Backer also had a triple to center for Silver.

Post 800 took back the lead in the seventh inning after capitalizing on an error by the Silver second baseman that allowed Jace Marotz to reach first. Marotz later scored on a delayed double steal that was set up by Berg’s steal of second after Berg reached on a base hit.

Berg also scored on a delayed double steal in correlation with Domeier who walked and stole second.

Berg went 2 for 3 with an RBI, while Marotz and Mielke both went 2 for 4 with an RBI each.

Post 800 coach Brandon Streich felt that his team’s baserunning improved a lot from the start of the game, but he also credited Silver for their pitching and defense.

“Baserunning was huge in this game,” Streich said. “Early in the game we left a lot of guys on base and give credit to New Ulm. They made the pitches and made the plays. We just weren’t able to make that final push until that last inning and it just ended up working out.”

Silver had 10 hits in the game with six left on base and three errors. Post 800 collected seven hits with nine left on base and no errors.

Silver coach Matt Swanson said he was glad to see his team scattering the ball all around for 10 hits, but he was disappointed with the lack of communication near the end of the game from his team’s defense.

“I figured they’d do the double steal there and we put on our cut-off play, but we just gotta make sure that the rest of the infield communicates and that the second baseman is ready to throw it right away. There was a little bit of hesitation because he didn’t hear it right away.”

Silver hosts Lake Crystal for a doubleheader at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, while Post 800 plays in the Sioux Falls Classic this weekend.