Photo courtesy of Jake McNeill/Marshall IndependentNew Ulm Legion Gold pitcher Jake Finstad pitches during the second game of a legion baseball doubleheader on Tuesday in Marshall.
By Jake McNeill
jmcneill@marshallindependent.com
MARSHALL — An early scoring barrage in Game 1 and a dominant pitching performance from Ashton Blomberg in Game 2 led the Marshall Mudcats to a doubleheader sweep of New Ulm Legion Gold on Tuesday.
Game 1
Marshall 8, New Ulm 3
While both teams scored runs in each of the first three innings of the American Legion baseball matchup between Marshall and New Ulm on Tuesday, the Mudcats were able to make more out of their opportunities. They rode the early momentum to an 8-3 victory.
“I was a little worried that the bats might not be there, and they were,” Marshall manager Mitch Maxwell said. “If you look at [Marshall pitcher Liam] Kruse’s performance, maybe a little shaky in the first couple innings and that showed time off, but then he was very solid to finish the game… He did a great job of making an adjustment and then finishing the game.”
Kruse pitched the full seven for Marshall, allowing two earned runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out nine batters on the day while shutting New Ulm out for the final four innings.
Marshall trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the second when they rallied ahead. Levi Maeyaert was hit by a pitch and Coby Brownlee followed up with an RBI double to drive in the tying run with two outs in the frame.
From there, Andrew Stelter hit a single to center field and an error allowed Brownlee to score the go-ahead run and another RBI single from Sam Thor gave Marshall a 4-2 lead. New Ulm never got back in the driver’s seat.
Gold pushed across a run when Lucas Seuss walked and scored on a Logan Mielke single. The hit cut the deficit to one run but that was as close as New Ulm got as Marshall’s pitching shut Gold out for the remainder of the game.
Kruse and Braxton Koster walked consecutively to start the bottom of the third and Maeyaert got hit by a pitch again to load the bases with one out. From there, Deagan Maurice hit a two-run single and Maeyaert scored on a passed ball to make the score 7-3. An Andrew Stelter sacrifice fly brought in the game’s final run.
Kolton Achman was lights-out in relief for New Ulm, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless frames while holding Marshall to three hits and a pair of walks. He also struck out five batters, but a lack of run support prevented New Ulm from capitalizing on his performance.
Levi Franta recorded the loss for New Ulm after allowing six earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks over 2 1/3 frames.
Jake Finstad scored the game’s first run after reaching on an error and scoring on a Seuss single. Marshall responded with Stelter scoring the tying run on a passed ball in the bottom of the inning but Brock Wellman singled, stole second and scored on a Colin Anderson single to give New Ulm a 2-1 lead after the top of the second.
Stelter finished the day with a game-high three hits and tied Maurice with two RBIs while Thor added another two hits and an RBI. Kruse also walked twice while Brownlee had a double and a walk.
For New Ulm, Wellman, Anderson, Mielke and Seuss each singled once to account for all of Gold’s hits. Seuss also walked once while Franta stole a pair of bases on the day.
Game 2
Marshall 2, New Ulm 1
It went down to the wire in the day’s second game. Both teams were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel for the first five innings and, after exchanging runs in the sixth, Marshall was able to pull off the walk-off to claim a 2-1 victory.
The game threatened to head to extra innings with Marshall and New Ulm locked in a 1-1 tie heading into the seventh inning. Marshall pitcher Ashton Blomberg struck out the side in the top of the frame, leaving it up to the bats to finish the job in regulation.
With one out, Levi Maeyaert helped the Mudcats get off to a strong start with a single. Cooper Mensink came in to replace him on first as a courtesy runner, an Owen Kesteloot walk pushed Mensink into scoring position and a passed ball put him 90 feet from victory.
Coby Brownlee stepped up to bat and then laid down what Maxwell described as a perfect bunt.
“You can’t execute that play better than he did there, where they couldn’t even make a play at the plate,” Maxwell said.
The ball dribbled off Brownlee’s bat and out of the batter’s box and a good jump from third gave Mensink more than enough time to sprint home and slide across the plate ahead of the tag to seal the win.
“I was just going out there thinking through what I do normally, don’t try to do anything special,” Brownlee said of the bunt. “I listen to my coach and he gave me the bunt sign, so I went out there and did it.”
On the defensive side of things, Ashton Blomberg kept Marshall in command of the game with a dominant performance on the mound. He struck out 16 batters on the day, more than his two highest totals during prep baseball season combined, while walking just two. He also limited New Ulm to five hits and one earned run.
“I just tried to keep a level head throughout the game and it was fun,” Blomberg said. “We didn’t hit right away but we pulled it together at the end, so I was just trying to be there for my teammates and get the W.”
After five scoreless innings, both teams scored a run in the sixth to keep the game tied. Logan Mielke singled with one out in the top of the sixth and Kolton Achman replaced him as a pinch runner. Achman stole second to get in scoring position and turned on the wheels to beat the throw home on Colin Anderson’s single for a 1-0 New Ulm lead.
Marshall tied the game right back up in the bottom of the frame. Andrew Stelter hit a leadoff single to get on base and advanced to second on a Sam Thor. Josh Kraft then hit a hard grounder to short and the New Ulm first baseman wasn’t quite able to keep his toe on the bag while making the grab, allowing Kraft to beat out the throw for a single.
With the tying run on third and one out, a New Ulm wild pitch then allowed Stelter to sprint home for the tying run.
It was a big day offensively for Stelter. After going 3 of 3 at the plate in the day’s first game, he went 2 of 3 in the second to finish the day with five hits. No other player had more than two.
Jake Finstad started the second game for New Ulm, allowing two earned runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters without walking one and also came up with a single and a walk at the plate.
Maxwell cited Finstad as one of the primary differences as to why the style of play in the second game was so different than that of the first, adding that he felt Finstad excelled with his offspeed and slider on the day.
The win improves Marshall’s record to 5-2 on the season. They’ll return to action on Thursday when they head to Willmar for a 6 p.m. game.
New Ulm Gold falls to 1-5 on the season and will go on the road to face Renner, S.D. in its next game on Friday at 5 p.m.
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