It was Sleepy Eye’s first out-right Junior Upper Midwest Classic since sharing the title with the Mankato National in 2023. Post 7 also finished second in the 2007 Junior Classic to Maple Grove.

Lozano went five innings and struck out five and allowed all four runs.

Karter Haala finished up the last two innings.

Jacen Kratzke took the loss for Mankato. He went 6 2/3 innings and was charged with all six runs.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7’s Jalen Brandl slides into third during a Junior Upper Midwest Classic semifinals game against New Ulm Junior Legion Gold Sunday morning at Johnson park.

Merrick Mathiowetz and Keeyan Netzke each had two hits for Post 7, which out-hit Mankato 9-4 in the game.

Mathiowetz drove in three runs.

“Eric was awesome,” Sleepy Eye Post 7 head coach Brandon Streich said. “We tried to save him a little bit on Thursday and he came through. He was getting a little bit tired at toward the end, but him finishing the fifth inning the way he did was really important for us.”

And the way Lozano started was equally important as he dominated National batters, retiring the side in order for the first three innings.

And Sleepy Eye was able to plate a run in the first on a Mathiowetz groundout for a 1-0 lead before adding three more in the second for a 4-0 lead.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7’s Derek Wales attempts a bunt during a Junior Upper Midwest Classic semifinals game against the New Ulm Junior Legion Gold Sunday morning at Johnson park.

A Netzke lead-off single was followed by a Jaxon Saenz RBI double to center. A Lozano bunt single, a stolen base and a walk to Tyler Sellner loaded the bases.

A walk to Haala forced in a run and a Mathiowetz single made it 4-0.

A wild pitch added another run in the third for a 5-0 lead before a Mankato error in the top of the fourth made it 6-0.

Streich said that getting a that lead in the game was big.

“Anytime you can get ahead in the game early it relieves some of that pressure off of your pitching and defense,” he said. “It lets everybody relax and breath a little bit — you can apply that pressure and it is contagious when that happens.”

Mankato used three hits and two walks in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-3 and then added a final run in the fifth off of Lozano.

“We had a lot of good defensive plays the game and our athleticism showed today,” Streich said. “We came into this tournament with high expectations and we took one game at a time and one pitch at a time. I think with that mentality, the athleticism and pitching that we have, the sky is the limit for us.”

Sleepy Eye is now 10-0 and hosts Marshall on Tuesday.

Sleepy Eye got to the title game with a 6-2 win over the New Ulm Junior Legon Gold Sunday morning.

All six of Sleepy Eye’s runs in that game were unearned and aided by four New Ulm errors.

Landry Folkens got the mound win, with Owen Castleman taking the loss.

New Ulm out-hit Sleepy Eye 8-3 in the game.

Owen Castleman and Miles Castleman each had two hits for the Jr. Gold. Folkens was 1 for 2 with two RBIs for Sleepy Eye and Saenz was 1 for 2 with a double and two RBIs.

Mankato earned their way to the title game with a 12-2 win over the New Ulm VFW Silver in five innings Sunday.

Owen Drill took the loss for the Silver. Silver got a hit and RBI each in the game from Chase Wilson and Blake Aufderheide. Mankato got two hits apiece from Andrew Carson, Ryan Shain and Eli Davis in the semifinals win. Davis got the win on the mound.