Late inning woes continue as town team loses 8-7 to Mankato
Posted June 18, 2015
By CJ Siewert
For the second consecutive night, the St. Peter town team lost a late lead and wound up losing by one run, 8-7, to the Class B Mankato Twins on Wednesday at Veterans Field.
The Saints led 5-4 after six innings, but the Twins tagged starting pitcher Kevin Sandborg for four runs in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead.
In his first appearance on the mound this season, Sandborg lasted six and one-third innings, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
The Twins started with an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run homer. Another run in the second gave the visitors a 3-0 lead before the Saints plated their first run of the game in the bottom half. Ryan Wenner led off with a walk, advanced to second on a single by Jeff Menk and was driven home on another one-bagger off the bat of Tyler Stoffel.
St. Peter cut the deficit to one in the third inning after Seth Wenner walked and Ryan Wenner lined an RBI double over the left fielder.
Mankato tacked on another run in the fourth to make it 4-2 before the Saints were able to take their first lead of the game in the fifth inning. Billy Hanson and Seth Wenner hit consecutive singles followed by a bizarre fielder’s choice off the bat of Ryan Wenner, which allowed Hanson to score. With the Wenners on second and third, CJ Siewert followed with a sacrifice fly to score Seth Wenner and then Ryan Wenner scored on a single by Menk to take a 5-4 lead.
The Saints held the one-run lead until the Twins posted the four-run seventh inning on five hits and a hit-by-pitch.
The local nine made it interesting in the eighth with two runs to cut the Mankato lead back to one. Stoffel walked, Sam Wenner singled and Jayme Munsterman walked to load the bases for Hanson, who ensued with a two-run single down the third base line.
But the final five outs for St. Peter came by strikeout, ending any threat of a comeback.
All three St. Peter pitchers used in the game made their first appearances of the season – Sandborg, followed by manager Tom Lacina for two outs and ending with Hanson for the final two innings. Lacina got two pop outs in the two batters he faced, while Hanson faced seven batters with two singles and two strikeouts.
Sam Wenner (2-4, R, SB, HBP), Hanson (2-5, R, 2 RBI) and Menk (2-5, RBI) led the Saints at the plate.
St. Peter (5-4 overall, 4-1 RVL) travels to Arlington and Gaylord over the weekend to defend its title at the 16-team High Life Invite. The Saints face Elrosa in the first round at 10:15 a.m. Saturday in Gaylord. If they lose they play at 4:15 p.m. in Arlington and a win means a 6:15 p.m. game in Arlington. Their second round game will be against Rum River or Heron Lake.
Photo: St. Peter left fielder Seth Wenner makes one of his two putouts against the Mankato Twins. (Pat Beck/St. Peter Herald)
