Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke St. James’ Adian Viegel slides home safely as New Ulm VFW Silver catcher Brock Wellmann waits for the throw during Thursday’s Second District VFW baseball tournament at Johnson Park.

NEW ULM — St. James came from behind to edge New Ulm Silver 5-3 on Thursday in the Second District VFW Baseball Tournament at Johnson Park.

Silver will now face Lake Crystal at 12 p.m. on Friday at Johnson Park in the consolation bracket.

St. James got off to a fast start when Jack Westman belted the game’s first pitch to left field. Adian Viegel entered as a courtesy runner for Westman and Jesus Ilbriel smacked a single to right field which scored Viegel giving St. James an early 1-0 lead.

Kelien Bode and Parker Kamm drew consective walks for New Ulm in the bottom of the third inning. Zach Riederer hit a single to right field, scoring Bode and Kamm, making it 2-1 Silver. Logan Mielke’s single scored Riederer giving Silver a 3-1 advantage.

St. James answered when Connor Jones doubled to right field in the fourth inning. Garrett Parker’s double brought in Jones for 3-2 score.

St. James sent seven batters to the plate in the top of the sixth inning. Ilbriel hit a single to right field. He stole both second and third base. He scored on a wild pitch to tie it at 3-3. Jones cracked a triple to the fence in right-center field. He scored on a fielder’s choice, giving St. James the 4-3 lead. Mason Lundberg reached on a single and he scored on a costly Silver error for 5-3 St. James advantage.

St. James’ defense came up with a key play in the bottom of the sixth. New Ulm’s Kaden Wilson singled, moved to second on an error. Wilson tried to advance to third base on a grounder, but the St. James third basement tagged out Wilson for the second out.

Later in the inning, New Ulm’s Logan Kreilkamp reached on an error, moved to second on a fielder’s choice, but he was forced out at third base. Those two outs gave St. James the momentum it needed for the victory.