St. Peter amateurs lose first round playoff game 9-5 to Chanhassen
Posted August 3, 2013
By CJ Siewert
Playoff baseball began Friday night for the St. Peter town team at Veterans Field, but unfortunately for the Saints, they couldn’t give their home crowd a win, falling 9-5 to the visiting Chanhassen Red Birds.
The loss now positions St. Peter in a do-or-die scenario, as it must win the next three games to clinch a State tourney berth. The Saints will travel to Jordan on Sunday at 6 p.m. for an elimination game. The winner will move on to face the loser of Gaylord and Belle Plaine on Wednesday.
The difference between a win and a loss on Friday night proved to be taking advantage of errors and timely hitting, which Chanhassen did and St. Peter did not. The Saints committed three defensive errors and Chanhassen turned all those errors into runs. The Saints also left 10 men on base (six in scoring position).
Chanhassen took advantage of an error for their first run in the second inning. After the first batter reached base, a grounder to first that could have been a double play ended up being an overthrow into left field, advancing both runners into scoring position. The two runners eventually scored for a 2-0 lead.
St. Peter responded immediately after Mike Enz and Ryan Wenner started the frame with singles. With one out, Jeff Menk reached on a fielder’s choice to score Enz and cut the deficit to one.
The game took a turn for the worse for St. Peter in the fifth inning as Chanhassen tagged starter Ty Kaus with five runs (four earned). Four singles and two walks, combined with two errors, gave the Red Birds a comfortable 7-1 lead that they nurtured for the remaining four innings.
The Saints got back on the board in the sixth inning with two runs. Billy Hanson walked, Seth Wenner singled and Ben Mikelson drove in Hanson with a base hit. Menk then reached on an error where Wenner was able to cross home.
Chanhassen took an 8-3 lead in the eighth on a single and a double before the Saints got that run back right away in the bottom half. Seth Wenner walked, Mikelson singled and CJ Siewert reached on an error as Wenner scored.
Once again, Chanhassen added a run in the ninth on consecutive doubles. The Saints didn’t lie down, though, and fought to the end. With one out, Hanson singled followed by walks issued to Jesse Munsterman and Ryan Wenner to load the bases. Wilmes then reached on an error to cut the deficit to 9-5, but the bases were left full as a fly ball ended the game.
Kaus suffered the complete game loss, allowing six earned runs in 16 hits, three walks and six strikeouts.
Mikelson led the Saints at the plate, going 2-for-2 with an RBI. Six other batters had one hit each, accounting for eight team hits.
Photo: St. Peter runner Ryan Wenner breaks ups a double-play attempt by Chanhassen second baseman TJ Gulden. (Pat Beck/St. Peter Herald)
