Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye Junior Legion’s Merrick Mathiowetz delivers a pitch during a Junior Upper Midwest Classic baseball game against Prior Lake Friday at Mueller Park.

NEW ULM — Sleepy Eye Junior Legion ended pool play in the Junior Upper Midwest Classic undefeated with a 7-4 win over Prior Lake Friday at Mueller Park.

Sleepy Eye beat Rosetown 14-2 in five innings earlier in the day and will be the top seed in Pool D and will play the runner up of Pool C at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Merrick Mathiowetz earned the win for Sleepy Eye with a strong performance on the mound, holding Prior Lake to one run on three hits while striking out 12 in six innings of work. At the plate, Derrick Wales was 3 for 3 with four runs scored, while Mathiowetz was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Karter Haala added a hit and two RBIs.

Sleepy Eye put up two runs in the first inning, with Wales coming home on a single by Mathiowetz and Tyler Sellner scoring on an error put into play by Landry Folkens. Haala drove in two more runs in the second with a single, plating Wales and Eric Lozano for a 4-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Lozano in the third scored Folkens, then a groundout put into play by Adam Braulik brought Wales home in the fourth for a 6-0 advantage. Wales scored his fourth run of the game on a passed ball in the sixth inning to put Sleepy Eye up 7-0.

Mathiowetz allowed the only run of his outing on a wild pitch with bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, but his 12th strikeout of the game ended the inning with no further damage. Sellner came in to pitch in the seventh, getting two outs but allowing three runs as Wales came in to get the final out of the game by strikeout to close out the win.

Haala earned the win for Sleepy Eye in the game against Rosetown, striking out five and allowing two unearned runs on one hit in five innings. At the plate, Lozano was 3 for 3 with a home run, a double and two RBIs, while Haala was 2 for 2 with two RBIs. Mathiowetz was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, and Keeyan Netzke was 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Sleepy Eye Junior Legion’s Merrick Mathiowetz delivers a pitch during a Junior Upper Midwest Classic baseball game against Prior Lake Friday at Mueller Park.