With New Ulm’s bounceback, it will have a rematch with Chanhassen at 2 p.m. Saturday in the elimination bracket. New Ulm beat Chanhassen in the first round of the tournament Thursday. A win there would move New Ulm to another elimination game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with the winner of that game moving on to Sunday’s championship round.

“I think we were just flat in the first game,” New Ulm head coach Mike Anderson said. “That pitcher didn’t pass the eye test, but he was better than we thought. He kept getting outs, kept getting outs. Then we didn’t make plays. We hadn’t had a game all year where we self-imploded, and one error can become two, and we ended up with seven errors. I don’t think we had seven errors. I don’t think we’ve had seven errors in three games combined on the year. It was a tough game.

“The momentum happened when we found the first barrel in the first game, and we just kept going, kept fighting. We didn’t necessarily battle back in the first game like we have all year, but this group showed its resiliency again when we had our backs against the wall. We came out against a program like Stillwater, and Stillwater’s a AAAA school, loaded with talent. Their first pitcher was touching 88 on the radar gun, and we just kept going and being who we are.”

Those seven errors led to 11 unearned runs for Fergus Falls as Dirk Haynes took the loss on the mound. He allowed five hits and two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. At the plate, Kyle Albrecht, Elliot Schabert, Tanner Backer and Candon Briggs all picked up hits in the game.

Staff photos by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Colin Forstner delivers a pitch during a DI Junior Legion State Baseball Tournament game against Stillwater-Bayport Friday at Red Haddox Park in Bloomington.

New Ulm limited itself to three errors in Game 2 against Stillwater-Bayport, leading to one unearned run. Cohen Domeier got the win in relief, striking out three in 2 1/3 innings of work. At the plate, Backer was 2 for 4 with two RBIs while Albrecht was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Ryan Rathmann was 1 for 3 with three RBIs. Schabert, Parker Neubauer and Hunter Larson each had a hit and an RBI.

New Ulm started off hot in Game 2, scoring four runs in the top of the first. A hit by pitch and two walks loaded the bases, then Schabert hit a double to drive in Zach Hubbard. Domeier got home on a fielder’s choice put into play by Neubauer, then Schabert and Neubauer scored on singles by Becker and Rathmann.

Stillwater-Bayport struck back in the bottom of the second, scoring six runs on five hits and one error. After a scoreless second from New Ulm, they responded in the third inning. Schabert scored on a single by Larson, then Neubauer scored on a groundout put into play by Dirk Haynes. Rathmann took the 7-6 lead back for New Ulm on a wild pitch.

New Ulm continued to score in the fourth, with four runs being plated on two errors, a walk and three hit batsmen. Stillwater-Bayport got a pair of runs in the fourth, then had a big fifth inning, taking a 12-11 lead with four more runs.

Needing to score, New Ulm came through in the sixth. Becker scored on an error before Albrecht took the lead with a two-run double, scoring Haynes and Hubbard. New Ulm added an insurance run in the seventh, with Neubauer doubling and coming home on a bunt by Rathmann. Domeier shut things down defensively with a two-strikeout seventh to end the game.

Staff photos by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Zach Hubbard scores a run during a DI Junior Legion State Baseball Tournament game against Stillwater-Bayport Friday at Red Haddox Park in Bloomington.

While New Ulm continues in the tournament with the win, it did use six pitchers in the effort. Anderson isn’t worried, however, saying they had plenty of capable pitchers for the rest of the tourney.

“We still have Zach Hubbard, Hunter Larson, Cullen Slette, we still have plenty of options to pitch,” Anderson said. “We’re still sitting in good shape, and if we make it to Sunday, we’ll get Colin [Forstner] back, he kept his pitch count low. We’re deeper than we realize on the mound, and just like any team we want to have a stable full of horses. We have a stable full of good enough horses and I think we can compete.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Cohen Domeier looks to throw to first after getting the out at second during a DI Junior Legion State Baseball Tournament game against Stillwater Friday at Red Haddox Park in Bloomington.