With just two hits and a pair of errors to their name entering the seventh inning, Sleepy Eye erased a 6-1 deficit in the inning and got the go-ahead hit from Chino Luna to earn a 7-6 win Friday afternoon at Johnson Park.

Luna also started the rally in the seventh with a leadoff walk. After Cole Eckstein reached on an error, a walk to Tyler Mathiowetz filled the bases for Talan Helget, who singled in Luna and Eckstein on a hard grounder to center. A pop out followed, but Kaden Klein reached on another error to score two more runs and have Sleepy Eye down 6-5.

Landon Wendinger then collected a single to center to tie the game up and after a pop out had two outs in the inning, Marcus Martinez drew a walk to give Luna an opportunity to get into the hit column.

Luna did commit one of Sleepy Eye’s two errors in the game, but it came in a sixth inning that didn’t do any damage. Luna’s second at-bat in the seventh did enough damage, though, as it led to a single into center field to score Wendinger and put Sleepy Eye in front for the first time all game.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7’s Chino Luna picks up the ball and checks a runner at third during an Upper Midwest Classic baseball game Friday at Johnson Park.

“There were two runners on and I was like, ‘I just got to get it out there somewhere in the gap,'” Luna said. “It was a perfect shot. … He threw me a fastball.”

Eckstein, who entered for Sleepy Eye in relief of Kam Kosak in the fifth, got the win in three innings of relief, allowing one hit and no walks for no runs while striking out four. Kosak finished with four innings of work, allowing eight hits and two walks for six runs while striking out one.

Sleepy Eye, who opened the tournament with an 8-6 win over Omaha Gross at Mueller Park earlier Friday, had just two hits up until the seventh and they both came in the second inning from Kessler Severson and Marcus Martinez and led to no runs. The lone run for Sleepy Eye before its big comeback in the seventh came on a passed ball that scored Eckstein in the third and made it a 5-1 game. Rosetown got that run back in the fourth on an RBI double from Jackson Hahn.

Rosetown got its first five runs all in the second inning on four hits, led by Henry Reinhard’s two-run double.

In Sleepy Eye’s win over Omaha Gross, Cody Schultz had no shortage of hits as he went 4 for 5 with a double and three RBIs to lead Post 7. Helget also had multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

Schultz also got the win on the mound in six innings, allowing seven hits and seven walks for five runs while striking out three.

Rosetown started its time in the UMC with a win over St. Peter earlier Friday by a score of 6-1.

With Sleepy Eye’s 2-0 start in the UMC and comeback win over Rosetown, Luna said the ultimate goal is making it back to UMC championship, which Post 7 did in 2023 when they finished as runners-up to Plover. But the first order of business will be getting past St. Peter and avenging an earlier loss that occurred on June 18.

“I would say confidence is an all-time high right now,” Luna said. “Especially going into [Saturday], we lost to that St. Peter team and we’re looking to get that back.”

Sleepy Eye plays St. Peter in its final pool play game of the tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday in Essig.