WILLMAR —
When the New Ulm Brewers won their first-round game of the Class C Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament Sunday, it was a reminder of how far the club has come in one year.
New Ulm finished the 2009 season with just five wins and failed to reach the region tournament. Now, the Brewers find themselves in the round of 16 after they beat Sobieski 5-4 at Bill Taunton Stadium.
“We were lucky if we had 10 guys at the games last year,” said New Ulm manager Al Flor. “We tried going young and we’re succeeding right now. Give credit to these young guys playing at this level. They’re one year older.”
Kyle E. Fischer is one of 10 players on New Ulm’s roster of 20 years old or younger. On Sunday he turned in a quality outing, going eight innings and holding the Skis to five hits with five strikeouts.
“A lot of us are right out of high school, and last year we were still getting a feel for the wooden bat,” Fischer said. “This year, we pulled it together and we’re on a hot streak.”
Sobieski scraped together a run on a hit and an error in the first inning but the Brewers bounced back for three runs in the second inning and two in the third.
Garrett Fischer scored on Kyle E. Fischer’s single, Landon Rewitzer scored on a wild pitch and Zach Hoffmann’s sacrifice fly drove in Kyle E. Fischer.
Scott Schaefer hit a sac fly to score Corey Schaefer and Rewitzer singled in Wade French in the second inning.
“Mentally, it was so much easier to throw strikes when you have a big lead,” Kyle E. Fischer said.
The Skis got a run back in the third inning but Kyle E. Fischer held Sobieski to just one hit over the next four innings.
The 19-year-old Kyle E. Fischer returned to the Brewers along with a few other teammates after New Ulm Gold’s American Legion season ended in July. Losing players to the Legion team hurt the Brewers last season as the team struggled.
Flor said eight of his players missed many games last season because they played Legion ball.
“Most of those eight guys who played Legion last year are starting for us now,” Flor said. “After (Kyle E. Fischer) pitched in Legion, he came back and has been lights out. We’ve leaned on him in some big games coming down the stretch going into state.”
In the eighth inning, Kyle E. Fischer gave up a double that made the score 5-3 and started the ninth inning with a walk. Flor brought in Andy Cook, a draftee from Leavenworth, who threw a couple wild pitches and a walk, allowing one run to score but managed to escape with the save.
“It seems like we make it interesting every game down the stretch,” Flor said.
The Brewers advance to the second round where they face the Wilmont/Howard Lake winner at 11 a.m. Saturday in Bird Island.
Sports
New Ulm Brewers hold off Sobieski
Young New Ulm squad advances to round of 16 at Class C state tourney
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