Gold shook off three errors and put enough offense together Wednesday night to end a five-game losing streak and defeat Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7 in a legion baseball game at Johnson Park.

New Ulm’s errors led to three unearned runs on starting pitcher Colin Anderson’s stat sheet, but a three-run third inning was enough to put Gold in front for good and secure the win to move them to 6-8 on the year. Anderson finished the game with six innings of work, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out two.

As for if the win lifted some spirits for Gold, Anderson thought it did.

“I think so, especially when we win against a team like Sleepy Eye, also a rivalry game,” Anderson said. “So that also helps boost confidence.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Legion Gold’s Kyle Albrecht watches a sac fly of his during a legion baseball game with Sleepy Eye on Wednesday night at Johnson Park.

Post 7 assistant coach Brandon Streich said he would have liked more from his team’s approach at the plate in the loss as they fell to 7-7 on the year.

“I think our approach at the plate was OK,” Streich said. “With a strike thrower like that, I like to be aggressive. I would have liked to be a little bit more selective later in the game, especially with runners on base. I think we were 1 for 6 or 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, so you’d like to see that improve as we go into the playoffs here the next week.”

Sleepy Eye put the ball in play more often than not, but Anderson kept things manageable despite the errors and said he was comfortable.

“I was pretty comfortable throughout the game,” Anderson said. “I was trying to avoid throwing it right down the middle, so I was trying to paint the corners a little bit, really throw it around the edges so they couldn’t get a barrel on it as easily.”

Elliot Schabert led Gold at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, while Jake Finstad was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Cohen Domeier and Anderson also each had a double.

Kameron Kosak was 1 for 2 with two RBIs for Sleepy Eye, while Gavin Strong was 1 for 2 with a walk and two runs scored.

Tyler Mathiowetz pitched all seven innings for Post 7, allowing seven hits and a walk for four earned runs while striking out four.

Gold was on the board first in the bottom of the first when Anderson had a one-out double and was driven in on a hard grounder by Finstad.

After a single by Strong and an error at third allowed Kessler Severson to reach, Kosak singled into center to tie the game in the second inning at 1-all. With two outs, Talan Helget reached on another error that scored Severson and gave Sleepy Eye a 2-1 lead.

A Schabert double in the fourth tied the game before a Kyle Albrecht sac fly into center gave Gold a lead they never lost again. A Ben Alfred RBI single gave Gold an insurance run and made it a 4-2 game.

Anderson committed one of New Ulm’s errors in the sixth on a pickoff attempt that got away from first baseman Alfred and allowed Strong to take second and third. A groundout by Kosak gave Sleepy Eye and the game its final run.

Despite that error and another single by Cole Eckstein following the groundout for the run, Anderson forced a pop out to escape any more damage.

While Sleepy Eye was able to play error-free and capitalize on some New Ulm errors, Anderson said he thought the team was improving defensively as of late, but they would enjoy some rest this holiday weekend after hosting Waseca at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mueller Park.

Thursday’s game against Waseca will be Gold’s ninth game in the last seven days.

“I think [the holiday break] will definitely help, but honestly the past couple days, we’ve been playing better in the field, in my opinion,” Anderson said. “But I think some rest will help.”

While the errors hurt New Ulm, a collision in center field between center fielder Zach Hubbard and left fielder Parker Neubauer did also. A Talan Helget hit to center field that dropped in between Hubbard and Neubauer led to the two fielders running into each other. Neubauer was helped off the field moments later and iced his right knee in the dugout the rest of the game.

Caleb Forstner pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for Gold in relief.

As the regular season winds down and Sleepy Eye prepares to make a run for its third consecutive Division 2 state legion title, Streich said the team has gotten into its groove despite several lineup changes.

“The last couple weeks we’ve kind of been finding our groove and with different guys, I don’t think we’ve had many games with a full lineup,” Streich said. “We have different guys stepping into different opportunities, taking advantage of that, multiple guys taking multiple roles and we’re embracing that mentality.

“As you know, team first, and we do a really good job of that. We’ve set a culture the last couple of years with back-to-back state championships. There’s an expectation and there are roles where everybody kind of embraces that.”

Sleepy Eye will host St. Peter at 7:30 p.m. Monday night.