St. Peter clinches No. 2 seed in Region 6C playoffs
Posted July 27, 2013
By CJ Siewert
The St. Peter town team clinched the No. 2 seed for Region 6C playoffs with a 5-4 win at first-place Gaylord Friday night. Ty Kaus pitched the complete game with four earned runs on nine hits, including 10 Ks, three walks and two hit-batsmen.
St. Peter is at Henderson for a now meaningless game Sunday at 4 p.m. Region 6C playoffs begin Friday, Aug. 2, as the Saints will host the No. 3 seed from the River Valley League Central. The No. 3 seed from the Central will be either Belle Plaine or Chanhassen, depending on the results of their respective games on Sunday.
Friday night’s game marked the fourth consecutive league game for St. Peter that was decided in the ninth inning. With the game tied 4-4, Jeff Menk sparked a two-out rally with a walk. CJ Siewert followed with a hard grounder that was mishandled by the shortstop to put runners on first and second. Kaus then took the first pitch he saw into right field, scoring Menk for what proved to be the game-winning run.
The scoring started right away in the first inning as Jesse Munsterman and Shea Roehrkasse walked, followed by an RBI single off the bat of Ryan Wenner.
Gaylord responded in the second with one run on two hits. The Saints regained a one-run lead in the third as Roehrkasse singled, reached second on a passed ball, moved to third on a single by Ryan Wenner and scored on an error by the center fielder.
The Islanders took advantage of a few mistake pitches from Kaus in the third inning for three runs and a 4-2 lead. Kaus allowed two walks, a double and a single in the frame. But Kaus settled down and responded with six scoreless innings.
The score remained 4-2 in favor of the home team until the Saints tied it up in the seventh. Munsterman led off with a walk, stole second and reached third on a single by Roehrkasse. Ryan Wenner then singled in Munsterman. Mike Enz attempted a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, but the throw to third beat Roehrkasse to the bag for the first out. Seth Wenner followed with a walk to load the bases and Menk ensued with an RBI fielder’s choice as Ryan Wenner scored and Seth Wenner was forced out at second.
The Saints avoided a one-out, bases loaded threat from the Islanders in the eighth, as Kaus was able to strike out the next batter and got the third out with a pop-up behind first base.
St. Peter was then able to take the lead in the ninth and Kaus closed the door in the bottom half with a groundout, strikeout and fly-out.
Ryan Wenner led the Saints at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a run and two RBIs. Seth Wenner (2-4, BB), Roehrkasse (2-4, R, BB) and Kaus (2-5, BB, RBI) had two hits each.
File photo: Ty Kaus pitched the complete game Friday at Gaylord with four earned runs on nine hits, including 10 Ks, three walks and two hit-batsmen.
