“Their kid threw very well,” New Ulm head coach Jeff Ferrell said. “We had our opportunities early, we just hit too many fly balls. But then late, we put the ball into play, we kept them down, and we had our opportunity … Kaden came up, made contact and put it on the ground hard. Baseball is a tricky game. Hit something on the ground, it gives you an opportunity, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Perhaps the most impressive performance on the day was the one given by the New Ulm pitcher, Parker Ranweiler. The righty hurled all eight innings in what felt like 90-degree weather, allowing just one run on two hits during the game

“Parker threw an outstanding ballgame,” Ferrell said. “I think he threw a little less than 90 pitches, and he threw really well. I turned to find out how many pitches he had thrown in the fifth or sixth, and they said, like, 45. I said, ‘What?’ That’s not a lot. He was very efficient, and we played well defensively behind him. Thats a tribute to our kids and how well they played as well.”

Also for New Ulm, Ranweiler had a run scored, while Miles Castleman had a hit and an RBI.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Silver VFW’s Kaden Stueber (far right) celebrates with his teammates after a walk-off win over Alexandria Friday at Johnson Park in the Junior Upper Midwest Classic.

Neither team scored until the fourth inning, when Ranweiler reached first on an error, took second on a steal and was sent to third on an infield hit by Collins. Miles Castleman finished off the play with a single to score Ranweiler for a 1-0 lead.

Alexandria tied it back up in the sixth on a single and an error, and both teams came up short offensively in the seventh, sending the game to extra innings. Ranweiler kept the bases clear in the top of the eighth, setting the stage for Stueber’s walk-off.

Silver played Hamel earlier in the tournament on Friday, falling 6-4. Miles Castleman took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits. At the plate, Collins was 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Miles Castleman was 1 for 4 with an RBI. Stueber was 2 for 3 with a run scored.

New Ulm sits at 2-1 in the tournament and awaits seeding for its next game on Saturday.