NEW ULM — Mankato American held off Westview Royal (Omaha), on Sunday for a 6-5 win in the Upper Midwest Classic Baseball Tournament championship game at Johnson Park.

American avenged an earlier tournament loss to Westview with the win as Westview defeated American 4-2 on Friday in pool play. Both teams were in Pool C.

American blanked Luverne 6-0 earlier Sunday in the semifinals to reach the championship, while Westview defeated Mankato National 7-1.

Tied up at 2-all, American broke out for four runs in the top of the seventh, started with a two-out, two-run single off the bat of Caden Hansen. An Nate Bridger triple made it 5-2 before a single from Koltin Kolbinger made it 6-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Westview responded with an RBI single from Scotty Minor and a grounder off the bat of Darius Boyd that led to an error to score two more runs. Bridger forced a swinging strikeout, however, to end the game.

Mason Diede was 2 for 3 for American, while Kolbinger was 2 for 4. Bridger got the win in 2 2/3 innings of relief, allowing four hits and a walk for one earned run while striking out two.

Westview was led by Ty Simms, who was 2 for 4 with a homer. William Mobley took the mound loss in 2 2/3 innings of relief, allowing eight hits and two walks for four runs while striking out one.