Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7’s Tyler Mathiowetz watches a hit of his during an Upper Midwest Classic Tournament quarterfinals game against Omaha Gross on Saturday evening in Essig.

ESSIG — Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7 had to weather a bit of a storm in the seventh inning Saturday evening, but early and consistent offense was enough to do the trick to top Omaha Gross 6-4 in an Upper Midwest Classic quarterfinals game at Essig Ballpark.

Omaha Gross got on the board first with a run in the top of the first, but Sleepy Eye got the run back in the bottom half of the inning before adding two runs in both the second and third innings.

Trailing 6-2 in the seventh, Omaha got to Sleepy Eye starter Kayden Klein with two doubles, the second off the bat of Bradyn Stanek to score two runs. After a fielder’s choice out and allowing his 11th hit of the day on a single by Maddux Viallamonte, Klein was relieved by Tyler Mathiowetz, who forced a lineout to end the game and send Sleepy Eye to Sunday’s semifinals.

Sleepy Eye will play Rosetown at 9:30 a.m. at Johnson Park in the UMC semifinals, with a spot in the championship game later on Sunday afternoon.

Klein did surrender 11 hits and a walk for four earned runs in the win, but he didn’t let it do too much damage in the end and he also struck out two batters. Sleepy Eye kept up with the Omaha bats by collecting 10 hits of its own.

Tyler Mathiowetz not only came in to earn the save, but he also helped lead the Post 7 bats by going 2 for 3 with a double, a walk and three RBIs. Karter Haala was 2 for 2 with a walk also for Post 7, while Merrick Mathiowetz was 2 for 4 with an RBI, Klein was 2 for 4 and Carson Uecker was 1 for 3 with a triple and a walk.

Tyler Waring took the mound loss for Omaha in 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three walks for five earned runs while striking out one. Cael Biggs-Berger was 2 for 3 with a double to lead Omaha Gross at the plate, while Mikey Bejar was 2 for 3 and Logan Legner was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

A Legner single in the first scored Bejar for a 1-0 Omaha lead, but Merrick Mathiowetz singled in Uecker, who tripled, in the bottom of the first to tie it up. A leadoff single by Folkens in the second was followed with a popout, but Ethan Schwartz walked and Haala singled to lead the bases for Tyler Mathiowetz, who doubled in two for a 3-1 lead.

Sleepy Eye went up 5-1 after a sac fly from Eric Lozano and a bases-loaded walk by Tyler Mathiowetz. B Hempel singled in a run in the fourth to make it 5-2, but Sleepy Eye got the run back in the fifth on an RBI single from Tyler Mathiowetz. Omaha got three hits and a hit batsmen in the seventh to score two and put Tyler Mathiowetz on the mound with two outs, but he forced a lineout to Merrick Mathiowetz at second to preserve the win.