Springfield Defeats New Ulm in Division Championship Game
8/1/07
After defeating Stark in the second round of the playoffs on Tuesday night, the Tigers went right back to work on Wednesday night, taking on the New Ulm Brewers to determine the division winner, draft order, and match-ups for the region.
Jake Miesen took the mound for the Tigers. The only run he surrendered came in the first inning from a lead-off walk. The runner advanced on a base hit and scored on a sacrifice fly, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Kyle Kraska again was the spark in the Springfield offense, starting the bottom of the first with a single. Ryan Sturm tied the game at one with a sac fly, scoring Kraska.
The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the second, aided by a New Ulm error and a big double by Kraska, they took a 3-1 lead. Springfield stretched the lead to three with another run in the fourth when Chris Sturm singled and scored on a Brewer error. Brady Schwab capped off the night's offense with a solo blast to right leading off the bottom of the fifth inning.
Miesen faced just four batters over the minimum after allowing the single run in the first inning. The Tiger defense was stellar turning three double plays behind Jake. Jesse Berg came on to pitch the final frame, retiring the Brewers in order.
The victory for the Tigers gave them the first draft pick for the region playoffs. With that pick they chose Colby Pack from Lamberton. The Tigers second pick was Brian Hertling from Sleepy Eye. Springfield enters the region as the champion of the American division of the Tomahawk East League. They will face the runner-up from the National division in a best-of-three game series starting on Sunday night in Springfield. Searles and Essig play on Thursday night to determine the match-up. Come on down to Riverside Park to support the Tigers on Sunday night at 7:30pm as they battle in the region playoffs for the first time since 2000!
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
| New Ulm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Springfield | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | |
| Kraska, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Baier, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Schwab, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Sturm, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Fink, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Miesen, P | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Berg, P | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eckstein, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Wilhelmi, CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Sturm, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Haseleu, PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moritz, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| Miesen (W, 2-2) | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Berg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pictures
