On a hot, windy Sunday afternoon, that changed as right-handed reliever Collin Forstner got the final strikeout to help New Ulm hold off Mankato American Junior Legion 10-7 at Johnson Park in the JUMC championship game.

New Ulm’s last JUMC championship win came in 2001, but Junior Gold head coach Mike Anderson had confidence this year a change would come because of the heart and grit he sees from his team.

“Before the game we said, ‘The team with the most heart is the one that’s going to win this,'” coach Anderson said. “It’s not about baseball, it’s not about who can hit the ball the best, who can throw the ball the best, it’s about the team that has the most heart. And like these boys proved, they’ve got a lot of heart. The difference between being a good baseball player and a great baseball player is not whether or not you make an error or you strike out, it’s how you recover from it, and I would say this team does an amazing job of recovering from failure and just keeps gritting through it, because it wasn’t a pretty game.”

New Ulm had a few miscues and errors against American to make the win not so pretty, but American had three errors and New Ulm was able to rack up 12 hits.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Junior Legion Gold’s Eli Anderson flips his bat after taking a walk in the JUMC championship game against Mankato American on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Park. Eli Anderson was 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the win.

Alex Portner accounted for three of those hits for New Ulm, going 3 for 5 with three runs scored, while Eli Anderson was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs and Levi Hopp was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Candon Briggs also was 2 for 4 with three RBIs for New Ulm.

Eli Anderson’s double brought in Portner for the first run of the game. Coach Anderson also had a hit and two runs scored in Junior Gold’ 11-1 JUMC semifinals win over Owatonna VFW in five innings Sunday.

“Kind of watching Candon and Alex before me, I know they like to hammer the outside, and I like hitting those outside pitches, so I was looking for that,” coach Anderson said of his hits Sunday. “And then you’re already adjusted to the fastball … so jump on the fastball when it comes and be ready for off-speed to follow.”

While New Ulm started its Sunday with the 10-run win over Owatonna, a game that saw Briggs pitch all five innings and only allow one run on two hits and a walk while striking out three, American also won a rout in their 13-2 Sunday morning JUMC semifinals win over Alexandria.

With both Junior Gold and American collecting their share of hits and runs in the semifinals, the championship game was no exception. But New Ulm had enough speed and pitching to stay on step ahead of Mankato.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Junior Legion Gold pitcher Collin Anderson delivers a pitch in relief during the seventh inning of the JUMC championship game against Mankato American Sunday afternoon at Johnson Park.

“We will never run out of pitching,” coach Anderson said. “We’ll bever roll out a pitcher at any moment in any tournament or any game that hasn’t pitched in the past, so that’s a luxury. When you get deep into the tournament like this, this was our sixth game in four days. A lot of teams we faced, like Owatonna, they were out, they were running out of pitching. We won’t do that. And the team speed this team has is unbelievable. Very enjoyable.”

Hopp got the start and win over American in 2 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and a walk for one earned run while striking out two. He was relieved by Tanner Backer, who pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and no walks for two earned runs while striking out six.

After Eli Anderson moved from behind the plate to the mound to pitch the seventh, he walked back-to-back hitters to prompt another pitching change and bring Collin Forstner to the mound. A sac bunt moved both runners up a base and a sac fly off the bat of Avery Stubbs made it a 10-7 game. But Collin Forstner turned a 2-2 count into a swinging strikeout on a fastball to end the game and give New Ulm its first JUMC title in 24 years.

“It was just fun to bear down and grind out for outs,” Collin Forstner said. “We had a four-run lead, we just needed to get those three outs and we win the game, so we just had to fight.”

Collin Forstner said he had a busy week in the tournament, but he was more than willing to enter the seventh and help his team out on the mound while Eli Anderson moved back behind the plate.

“I threw a lot of pitches this weekend,” Collin Forstner said. “All I knew was I had to come in, throw strikes, trust the field, our team’s going to make the plays. So just throwing strikes, keeping them in the zone, not walking anyone, no free bases.”

Junior Gold never trailed American in the game, but American put runs on the board in every inning but the fifth. However, Junior Gold’s early success at the plate in the second and fourth innings was enough to be the difference-maker.

After Josh Forstner singled in a run in the top of the second to give New Ulm a 2-1 lead, a single by Portner and walks to Briggs and Eli Anderson loaded the bases. Two wild pitches and a passed ball during a Backer at-bat followed to score three runs and give New Ulm a 5-1 lead. Backer then singled but was stranded at first after a flyout ended the inning.

After American got a run back in the bottom of the second and third innings, New Ulm got those runs back and an extra in the fourth on an RBI single by Evan Blekestad and a two-run single by Hopp.

Stubbs finished the game leading American at the plate by going 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Eli Edberg was 2 for 4 with an RBI, Owen Stenzel was 2 for 4 and Braxton Wojcik had a double and an RBI.

Jackson Stenzel got the start and took the loss for American in two innings of work, allowing six hits and two walks for five earned runs while striking out one. Gavin Hering pitched the next three innings for American in relief, allowing three hits and no walks for two runs, one earned, while striking out two. Owen Stenzel pitched the final two innings and allowed three hits and two walks for three runs, one earned, while fanning three.

“I know we’ve had the talent in this team,” Eli Anderson said. “And I know we beat East [American] twice before, so I knew we had it in us and I knew if we played our game, we’d play well, we’d hit the ball, we’d pitch well and have a great defense behind us.”

While both teams would have liked their defense to be a little sharper, an extreme heat warning in effect for New Ulm and frequent wind shifts didn’t make things easy on either team. Regardless, New Ulm made enough plays to finish this year as the JUMC champs.

In New Ulm’s JUMC semifinals win early Sunday afternoon, Hunter Larson led the way the plate by going 2 for 2 with a walk, three RBIs and three runs scored, while Blekestad was 2 for 2 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored and Backer added a double and two RBIs. Hopp had a hit and two RBIs in that game also.