Saints vs. Red Birds: the matchup
Posted July 30, 2013
By CJ Siewert
Region 6C playoffs kick off Friday night at Veterans Field as the RVL West No. 2 seed St. Peter takes on the RVL Central No. 3 seed Chanhassen at 7:30 p.m.
St. Peter is likely to send their ace to the hill – Ty Kaus – who boasts a 5-1 record in six starts, including five complete games and one shutout. Kaus has tallied a team-leading 59 strikeouts in 49 and two-thirds innings and opponents are hitting .186 in 215 at-bats. His ERA is 2.54.
Chanhassen is likely to counter with their ace, Justin Thompson. Although, their No. 2, Justin Kurth, could see the mound instead as he allowed just three earned runs after seven innings of work in the Red Birds’ 4-3 walk-off victory against the Saints on July 25.
Thompson is 6-2 in eight starts with a 2.28 ERA. He has tossed five complete games and leads the team with 36 strikeouts in 71 innings. Opponents are hitting .237 in 219 at-bats. Kurth enters playoffs with a 3-1 record in five starts with a 1.71 ERA. Opponents are hitting .172 in 151 at-bats and 42 and one-third innings.
At the plate, St. Peter is led Kaus, Shea Roehrkasse and Jesse Munsterman who are all batting above .360. In 10 games, Kaus is hitting .488 (20-41), Roehrkasse is hitting .370 (17-46) in 12 games and Munsterman leads the team with 34 hits in 93 at-bats for a .366 average in 22 games.
For the Red Birds, Jeff Pavlovich leads the squad among regular starters with a .400 average (22-55) in 14 games. Shawn Riesgraf is batting .379 (22-58) in 15 games, while John Gulden has a .309 average (21-68) in 17 games.
History
Chanhassen leads the all-time series 3-2, dating back to their inaugural season in 2010. St. Peter and Chanhassen have met once in playoffs as the Red Birds won 11-1 in the first round of the 2011 region playoffs.
Chanhassen reached the State tourney for the first time in its short existence last year where the Red Birds fell 2-1 to Blue Earth in the opening round. St. Peter’s last State appearance was in 2010 where the Saints also fell to Blue Earth in the first round, but by a more convincing score, 15-1.
Photo: Justin Thompson, pictured here at the 2012 State tourney, is the likely starter to face St. Peter on Friday night.
