Photo courtesy of Sam Thiel/Marshall Independent New Ulm's Cade Bushard reacts after scoring the winning run during their sub-state championship game against Marshall Black on Monday.

By Sam Thiel

Marshall Independent

MARSHALL – With just one game separating themselves from a trip to the state tournament, the New Ulm Gold Junior Legion baseball team knew things weren’t going to come easy in the title match, especially with a hungry Marshall Black opponent looking to avenge an early loss to New Ulm in the semifinal round and force a tiebreaking second game.

In a back-and-forth affair that was played over the span of two days due to inclement weather, New Ulm found its back against the wall on several occassions, but each time battled back. Its perseverance paid off, as New Ulm used a seventh-inning rally to earn a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Marshall on Monday at Legion Field.

New Ulm manager Mike Munce credited Marshall for pushing it to the limit and was proud of the way his team fought all the way to the end.

“Marshall’s always a tough team and we knew they would be a better team than when we beat them on Saturday,” Munce said “They came ready to play; [Sunday] we exchanged three runs in the rain and we knew we were coming in for a battle. They ran a little short on pitching and we took advantage at the end. It was a good overall win, hats off to Marshall and Chace (Pollock), they’re a great team, but ours came through this weekend and I’m proud of the guys.”

With New Ulm trailing by two heading into the bottom of the final inning, Teagan Kamm was hit by a pitch to lead things off before Nolan Drill and Cole Ranweiler connected on back-to-back singles to plate a run and cut the deficit to one at 6-5. After Cade Bushard was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Ranweiler got caught in a rundown on a pickoff attempt, but a run scored in the process, tying the game up at 6-6.

Two more walks were then drawn by Tony Geiger and Matt Rieger to fill the bases again, and Noah Wilmes was hit by a pitch to bring in the winning run and give New Ulm a walk-off win to punch its ticket to the state tournament.

The hard-fought effort and resilient play from both sides was shown right from the opening pitch. After steady rain halted play on Sunday with the score tied at 3-3, the two teams were forced to resume play going into the bottom of the third inning with New Ulm up to bat. New Ulm wasted little time getting on the basepaths, as Drill was hit by a pitch before back-to-back walks from Ranweiler and Bushard loaded the bases with one out. A fielder’s choice by Geiger on the ensuing at-bat would bring in a run to give New Ulm a 4-3 lead.

Despite the quick deficit, Marshall continued to battle and responded in the top half of the fifth, with Josh Baker connecting on a leadoff single before Jaden Pearcy drew a walk and Jacob Hughes reached on a bunt single to give Marshall a bases-loaded situation of its own with no outs.

Marshall capitalized on the next three at-bats, as Chase Douglas and Charlie Jacobson brought in runs on groundouts and Spencer Wambeke smacked an RBI single to put Marshall back in front at 6-4.

Neither side was able to produce much offense over the next couple of innings, as Marshall’s Baker and New Ulm’s Rieger traded scoreless frames back and forth to set the stage for the seventh-inning comeback.

Geiger led the way for New Ulm with a 1 for 3 day at the plate and three RBIs while Ranweiler added a pair of hits and an RBI and Bushard and Isaiah Miller each recorded an RBI.

Hunter Sehr earned the victory, tossing the first three innings while allowing three runs on three hits and striking out four. Rieger came on in relief, throwing four innings while allowing three runs on five hits.

Munce said after the rainy conditions, he was pleased with how Rieger and the defense settled into a zone and kept Marshall from creating too much damage on offense.

“Both pitchers struggled (Sunday) in the rain and conditions. We went with Matt here and he battled,” Munce said. “He gave up a few runs in the fifth, but settled in and threw scoreless ball after that and this team got behind him and got the win.”

Wambeke led the way for Marshall with a 2 for 5 day at the plate with two RBI while Douglas added a hit and two RBI and AJ Toulouse had a pair of hits.

Baker took the loss in relief, going 4 1/3 innings while allowing four runs on two hits and striking out two.

New Ulm Gold will begin state tournament play on Thursday in Bloomington. Munce said they just need to keep playing like they have and carry their momentum going into state.

“We just need to keep it rolling,” Munce said. “We need to win some games and keep playing like we can and you never know what’s going to happen.”

New Ulm Gold 7, Marshall Black 6

Marshall Black 030 030 0 – 6 9 3

New Ulm Gold 301 000 3 – 7 6 3

HITTING: Marshall Black (Douglas 1-4, 2 RBI; Wambeke 2-5, 2 RBI; Jacobson 1-4, RBI; Felcyn 1-3; Toulouse 2-4; Baker 1-2; Hughes 1-3); New Ulm Gold (Bode 1-4; Drill 1-2; Ranweiler 2-3, RBI; Bushard 0-2, RBI; Geiger 1-3, 3 RBI; Miller 0-3, RBI).

PITCHING (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall Black (Felcyn 2-3-3-3-0-0; Baker 4.1-4-4-2-5-2); New Ulm Gold (Sehr 3-3-0-3-4-4; Rieger 4-3-3-5-2-0).