Errors prove costly, Saints lose at Brownton 6-5
Posted May 18, 2013
By CJ Siewert
The St. Peter amateur baseball club out-hit Brownton 14-to-7 Friday night, but five defensive errors made way for five unearned runs as the Saints dropped a 6-5 decision at the Bruins’ home park.
The pitching staff had a collectively exceptional performance, giving up just seven hits in 45 plate appearances. Between four pitchers, there was one earned run and nine strikeouts.
St. Peter struck first in the opening frame on three consecutive singles. CJ Siewert led off with a single, Billy Hanson moved him to second on another single and Jesse Munsterman plated Siewert with the third hit in as many at-bats.
Jeremy Braun started on the hill and gave up the lone earned run in the bottom half, but tossed two scoreless innings thereafter. He lasted three innings, allowing three hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
The local nine took a 2-1 lead in the fourth as Mike Enz singled, Jeff Menk doubled, followed by a Matt Knutson sacrifice to score Enz.
Jordan Seebach relieved Braun in the fourth inning and was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve a 2-1 Saints lead, but the Bruins took advantage of three defensive errors in the fifth for a four-run inning and 5-2 lead.
Seebach ended up suffering the loss, even though he didn’t allow an earned run. He gave up three hits with a walk, strikeout and hit-batsmen.
Tony Vetter made his return to the hill in the sixth inning and stranded a runner on third base without any damage. The offense then picked it back up in the seventh with two runs to cut the deficit to one at 5-4. Seth Wenner and Ben Mikelson each hit singles, ensued by a walk by Siewert to load the bases. Hanson followed with a fielder’s choice to score Wenner, while Munsterman found a gap to score Mikelson. But the Saints left the bases full with a strikeout the end the threat.
Vetter stranded two runners in scoring position in the seventh to keep the game alive. But in the eighth, Vetter walked the first two batters, giving way to Munsterman to close out the inning. The Bruins took advantage of yet another error in the eighth for a run, which proved to be the game-winner, before Munsterman struck out two batters to end the inning.
The Saints threatened again in the ninth after Hanson lined a double to the right-center field gap and scored on a sacrifice fly by Munsterman. But that would be all they could score for a 6-5 final.
Hanson and Ryan Wenner led the local nine at the plate, each going 3-for-5. Hanson also had a run, RBI and a double. Siewert (2-4, R, BB) and Munsterman (2-4, 3 RBI, SAC) were the other two Saints to provide multiple hits. Also contributing at the plate were Mikelson (1-2, R), Menk (1-3, 2B), Enz (1-3, R) and Seth Wenner (1-4, R).
Next up for the Saints is their first River Valley League contest. St. Peter travels to Arlington on Sunday for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The Saints have defeated the A’s in their last six meetings by a combined score of 66-17.
File photo: Billy Hanson is off to a hot start at the plate. In the first two games he is 5-for-9 (.556) with two doubles, two RBI and a run.
