VFW Silver drops first game at Jr. Classic
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NEW ULM -- Although it came in a losing effort, it just may have been the best all-around game New Ulm VFW Silver has played this season.
Silver pitcher Kaden Larson turned in a stellar performance, going seven innings and allowing seven hits. He gave up just one run, but that was enough for St. James as it defeated New Ulm 1-0 in the first game of the Junior Upper Midwest Classic Thursday night at Johnson Park.
"He threw nice, he kept them off of their feet most of the time, literally he gave up one hit that they needed," Silver coach Mark Grossmann said of Larson's performance.
Larson's defense backed him up well as it committed only one error in the game. The deciding factor, though, came in the top of the third inning. There, Tanner Olson and Connor Jones delivered back-to-back doubles, the second one scored Olson for the 1-0 St. James lead.
Jones, who was the starting pitcher for St. James, helped his own cause and he didn't really have too many threats in the game. Silver finished the game with five hits.
"We seemed to pick on their shortstop (Jesus Moriel) and their first baseman, they're excellent baseball players and for some reason, we seemed to pick on those too, they just did not make any mistakes, they played a great game," Grossmann said.
Larson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning. With one out, he got a strikeout and a line out to end the threat.
Silver had a couple of hits in the seventh inning, but it didn't turn into the tying run. However, Grossmann was proud of his team's effort and his pitcher's effort. Silver will play Mankato East Junior Legion at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning at Johnson Park and then it will play Maple Grove at 4:30 p.m. at Johnson Park.
"It might've been our best game of the year, which makes it more difficult to swallow," Grossmann said. "We only made two mistakes, that maybe cost us a chance to get the win. But I can't say enough about Kaden Larson."