Jordan Nips Saints 2-1 For Region Title

By Pat Beck, St. Peter Herald

The Region 6C amateur championship game came down to pitching and defense, and St. Peter manager Tom Lacina expects the same when the Saints open the state tournament.

Except for one bad pitch, St. Peter veteran righthander Jesse Anderson nearly pitched the No. 2 seeded Saints to a victory Saturday against No. 1 seeded Jordan in the region title game at the Mini Met.

With the game tied 1-1, Jordan's Scott Hollingsworth blasted a solo home run over the left left field wall in the sixth inning for the 2-1 margin of victory.

"They've got good pitching and shut our hitting down," Lacina said. "Both teams play good defense, and it came down to that one pitch.

"You're going to see good pitching at the state tournament, so you may as well see it when you're getting ready to go. We'll give somebody a good game. I expect we'll play a good close game. It will come down to how the pitching does and if we get a couple of timely hits."

St. Peter took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Ryan Kapsner reached on an infield single. CJ Siewert sacrifice bunted him to second. Billy Hanson and Jeff Menk walked to load the bases, and Jordan Wilmes drove in Kapsner with a force out at second.

The Brewers tied it 1-1 the bottom of the second. Hollingsworth led off with a single to center. Mitch Ries singled to left. Jonathon Draheim singled to load the bases. Alex Beckman grounded into a force out at second that scored Hollingsworth.

Anderson went the distance to pick up the loss. He allowed two earned runs on eight hits, one walk and one strikeout in eight innings.

"He's pretty much carried us the last half of the year when everybody got hurt," Lacina said of Anderson. "He's earned it. He threw really well today."

Jordan starting pitcher Joe Lucas got the win, going seven innings and giving up one run on five hits, six walks and one strikeout.

Jordan ace pitcher Mitch Bockenstedt got the save by throwing three scoreless innings with just one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.

St. Peter had six hits. Shea Roehrkasse led the way, going 2 for 4. Jayme Munsterman went 1 for 5. Jovan Rodriguez, Kapsner and Billy Hanson finished 1 for 3.

However, the Saints didn't hit well with runners on base, stranding 11.

The Saints played errorless ball in the field. Roehrkasse at third base had the best play of the game, diving for a hot shot down the third baseline, getting up and throwing out the runner at first.

Jordan and St. Peter split during the regular season.

As the No. 2 seed out of the region, St. Peter (18-12-1) opens the state tournament at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20  at Green Isle versus the Avon Lakers (15-10), the No. 3 seed of Region 8C (the Victory League).

As the No. 1 seed, Jordan has a bye in the first round and opens play in the second round at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 at Green Isle.

The Class C state tournament is scheduled for three weekends in a row starting on Friday, Aug. 18 in Green Isle, Hamburg and Norwood-Young America.

Lacina said he plans to start Anderson (4-4) in the first game at state. First-year player Andy Regner (2-0) is the Saints' next available pitcher. St. Peter also drafted three pitchers: Scott Palmer of Fairfax, Cole Pengilly of Le Sueur and Tanner Wenninger of Gaylord.

St. Peter's other pitchers, including Jeff Wenner (4-2), Luke Schwarz (6-1) and Cullen Bruce (0-2), aren't available because of arm injuries.

This will be Lacina's fifth time at state with the Saints, and they have yet to win. This is St. Peter's fourth straight trip to state. The Saints also made state in 2010, the first time since 1980. Anderson started that game in 2010 against Blue Earth.

"We've got a good mix," Lacina said. "We've got quite a few veterans and some youngsters that can run and play well. This group has been a lot of fun. We didn't lose many games by playing bad."