And that was all that the Post 7 right-hander Merrick Mathiowetz needed as Sleepy Eye downed Monticello 2-1 Sunday afternoon to win the 2026 Upper Midwest Classic at Johnson Park.

Mathiowetz allowed six hits and struck out four.

Wyatt Priola took the loss for Monticello. He also allowed six hits and fanned two.

“Both teams came out and scored early, but Merrick pitched and unbelievable game,” Sleepy Eye head coach Caden Evers said. “And we played awesome defense behind him — we played great defense and pitched really well.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7 baseball team poses with their Upper Midwest Classic Tournament championship plaque Sunday at Johnson Park. Front row (l-r): Eric Lozano, Tyler Mathiowetz, Karter Haala, Chino Luna, Jacob Fulmer, Kyle Nelson and Merrick Mathiowetz. Back row: Coach Winsten Nienhaus, coach Brandon Streich, Jack Windschitl, Eli Christensen, Chase Zufall, Kayden Klein, Landry Folkens, Ethan Schwartz, Caron Uecker, Adam Braulick and coach Caden Evers. Not pictured: Santi Martinez, assistant coaches Mark Anderson, Jackson Huiras and Bruce Woitas.

Sleepy Eye plated two runs in the top of the first when Tyler Mathiowetz was hit by a pitch to start the game and stole second. Adam Braulick reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Mathiowetz to third.

Carson Uecker’s sacrifice fly scored Tyler Mathiowetz for a 1-0 lead.

A Merrick Mathiowetz single and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third before Braulick raced home on the second wild pitch of the inning for a 2-0 lead.

Monticello cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly from Dom Marschel.

That ended up being all of the scoring allowed by both Mathiowetz and Priola.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7 shortstop Kayden Klein prepares to throw to first for an out during Sunday’s Upper Midwest Classic Tournament championship game against Monticello at Johnson Park.

Post 7 threatened in the top of the fourth when it loaded the bases with two outs but failed to score.

But the Sleepy Eye defense made that one-run lead hold up twice.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Gaven Gardner stroked a one-out triple to center, putting the tying run 90 feet away.

Priola followed with an infield single deep in the hole to shortstop Kayden Klein.

“We had our infield halfway in and we said, ‘If you get something hard hit at you, take a look at [Gardner],’ and Kayden did a very nice job,” Evers said. “He caught the ball and looked him back and got him in the middle of nowhere. We got [Gardner] in a rundown and that saved a run.”

The Sleepy Eye defense shined again in the bottom of the sixth when Cale Holthaus doubled with one out.

Marschel followed with a deep drive to center field that was run down by Tyler Mathiowetz, forcing Holthaus to retreat back to second. Merrick Mathiowetz then ended the inning with a groundout.

“That catch was unbelievable,” Evers said. “Off of the bat I was thinking, ‘Oh, shoot — a tie game.’ But Tyler has unbelievable range and an unbelievable guy — he is an awesome center fielder.”

Post 7 got to the title game earlier in the day with a 15-7 thrashing of Rosetown.

Landry Folkens got the win, fanning three. Carson Uecker had three hits, with Tyler Mathiowetz, Merrick Mathiowetz, Kayden Klein and Folkens each having two hits.

“We played well all weekend,” Evers said. “We really put everything together this weekend.”

Sleepy Eye is now 9-3 on the season.