Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Gold pitcher Hunter Sehr delivers a pitch during Gold’s playoff game with Fairmont on Wednesday at Eagles Park in Sleepy Eye.

SLEEPY EYE — Fairmont Post 36 made things interesting against New Ulm Legion Gold in the seventh inning of a first round Division 1, Substate 2 legion baseball playoff game, but Gold held on in the end for a 4-3 win at Eagle Park on Wendesday night.

With New Ulm ahead 4-0 entering the seventh inning, Fairmont put together a four-hit inning to score three runs, with a two-run single by Nate Soelter highlighting the inning and making the score 4-3. Gold also committed a pair of throwing errors in the inning to help Fairmont snag a few extra bases, but after Soelter’s big hit, Gold reliever Jack Albrecht got a sharp hopper hit to him and threw to first for the final out and win.

The win moves New Ulm on to a meeting with Mankato American at 3 p.m. Thursday at Eagles Park. The American defeated Gold 7-5 in the Upper Midwest Classic championship on July 4 in New Ulm and defeated Jordan 13-5 on Thursday in Essig to move on in the winner’s bracket of the playoffs.

Albrecht pitched four innings for Gold on Wednesday in relief of Hunter Sehr and had two strikeouts while allowing five hits. Sehr pitched well in his three-inning start, allowing just two hits and no walks while fanning three.

Jacob Crissinger took the loss for Fairmont in six innings, giving up seven hits and no walks while striking out two.

Jackson Bode doubled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and scored on an RBI single from Cole Ranweiler to give Gold a 1-0 lead after one. Small ball was the name of the game in the third inning for Gold, with three bunts being dropped down in a row to fill the bases. The first bunt was a bunt single by Isaiah Rieser before a bunt by Bode resulted in a throwing error to first and a bunt by Sehr loaded the bases.

Ranweiler then drove in a run on a sac fly before Carter Lang grounded out to put New Ulm up 3-0. Lang had a leadoff triple in the sixth to deep center field and was brought in right after on an RBI single up the middle by Jaden Drill.

While no New Ulm hitter had more than one hit on the day, Bode scored two runs for Gold and reached three times, twice on errors. Fairmont’s leading hitter was Eli Anderson, who went 2 for 3 with a double.

Fairmont dropped into the loser’s bracket with the loss and will meet Faribault at 2 p.m. in Essig on Thursday.