Photo by Jennifer Brandes/Journal Sports Correspondent New Ulm Brewers’ Cole Ranweiler slides into second and is tagged out by Courtland Cubs’ Josh Giefer during a Region 2C amateur baseball playoff game on Sunday at Eagles Park in Sleepy Eye.

SLEEPY EYE — Ethan Stade and Mitch Bockenstedt combined to hold Courtland to five hits and the New Ulm Brewers belted three home runs to down the Cubs 9-1 Sunday afternoon in a Region 2C winner’s bracket game.

Stade got the win, going five innings and allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out nine of the 15 batters he faced.

Bockenstedt pitched the final four innings and permitted one run on three hits while fanning two.

Jackson Bode took the loss for Courtland. He went four innings and was charged with three runs on five hits.

Colton Schaefer, J.T. Hoffmann and Jaden Domeier each had two hits for the Brewers.

Hoffmann and Cole Ranweiler each had solo home runs, while Trevor Nissen had a two-run home run.

Nissen had three RBIs, with Hunter Ranweiler driving in two runs.

Nolan Drill had a solo home run for the Cubs’ only run.

Courtland now enters elimination play Monday night against Stark at 7:30 p.m. in Sleepy Eye.

The Brewers play Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Sleepy Eye in a winner’s bracket game against Lamberton.

But the win may be a costly one for the Brewers.

In the top of the fifth inning after giving up a leadoff single to Chase Meyer and throwing a pitch to Carter Lang, the left-handed Stade grabbed his left arm and left the game with an unknown injury.

“He [Stade] pitched a really good game,” Flor said. “It is too bad he had to go down. But Bock came in and shut them down for us. He [Stade] may be able to come back for us, but he is young and we want to protect him.”

Up until departing with that injury, Stade had recorded nine strikeouts, including striking out the side in the second and third innings.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Colton Schaefer singled and took second on a Hoffmann sacrifice bunt. He scored on a Hunter Ranweiler single.

New Ulm added two more runs in the third when Hoffman and Cole Ranweiler blasted back-to-back solo home runs.

Nolan Drill’s solo home run in the sixth inning cut the Brewers lead to 3-1.

But in the bottom of that inning, the Brewers added two more runs when Cole Ranweiler walked and came home on a deep home run to left by Nissen for a 5-1 lead.

“That (home runs) has been part of our game all year,” Flor said. “We hit gap-to-gap and power — that is the way we play. We look for the big inning, but we can chip away, too.”

And the Brewers did just that in the bottom of the seventh when they plated four runs on three singles, a fielder’s choice, a hit batter and a walk.

Flor said that the win Sunday was huge for the Brewers.

“Now we are one win away [from the state tournament],” he said.

The winner of the Lamberton-New Ulm game on Tuesday night guarantees a state berth. A win also moves the winner on to the Region 2C championship game t 4 p.m. on Saturday in Fairfax.

A Sunday game will be played in Sleepy Eye to determine the Region 2C champion if necessary.