Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye Junior Legion’s Merrick Mathiowetz (22) makes a throw over to first baseman Landon Wendinger (17) during the DII Southwest Sub State Junior Legion Baseball Championship against Luverne Tuesday at Riverside Park in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — In its first 10 at-bats, Sleepy Eye Junior Legion went 5 for 8 collectively with five runs scored in the DII Southwest Sub State Junior Legion Baseball Championship against Luverne Tuesday at Riverside Park.

In its next 16, it went 0-15 with one walk as it ended up falling to Luverne 12-7.

A pitching change in the second inning was key for Luverne, as Blake Sauer held things down for the win across the remaining six innings.

“I thought our approaches in the middle innings were okay,” Sleepy Eye head coach Brandon Streich said. “But that pitcher had some lights-out stuff. Five shutout innings and I don’t think we picked up a hit off of him until the seventh inning. Credit to him, and they made plays.”

Eric Lozano took the loss for Sleepy Eye, striking out one and allowing three runs on three hits. Carson Uecker made the start, striking out one and allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings. At the plate, Cole Eckstein was 3 for 4 with a run scored, while Merrick Mathiowetz was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Jacob Fulmer added a hit and an RBI.

Sleepy Eye started off the game with four consecutive hits, with a double by Uecker bringing home Eckstein and another double by Mathiowetz driving home Klein and Uecker. Fulmer added to the lead with a single to score Mathiowetz, then Fulmer came home on a bunt and a throwing error.

Luverne got a run back in the top of the second, but it looked like Sleepy Eye would continue to roll in the second as Eckstein got a leadoff single. Sauer came in at that point, and what resulted was 15 straight at-bats without a hit for Sleepy Eye.

Luverne, on the other hand, saw its offense take off in the middle innings. It scored one in the third, three in the fourth, three more in the fifth and four in the sixth to take a 12-7 lead. In those five innings, Luverne totaled 10 hits as Sleepy Eye committed three errors.

Sleepy Eye made a push in the seventh inning, finally breaking the hitless streak with a single by Eckstein. Kayden Klein reached on a fielder’s choice, then Mathiowetz drove in a run with a single. Klein scored on a throwing error, and Landon Wendinger collected a hit to put runners on first and second. However, Sleepy Eye was unable to pull off the seven-run comeback as the attempt was cut short on a groundout to third.

Despite the season-ending defeat, Streich said this loss shouldn’t define how the players remembered the year.

“I told the kids, ‘Don’t let tonight’s result affect the way you look at the season.’ We had a very successful season, and there’s a lot of things we can be proud of in terms of personal on and off the field growth and development. I think that, yeah it sucks that we lost tonight, but we have a lot of accomplishments to hang our hats on.”