St. Peter wins RVL West, clinches No. 1 seed in region playoffs
Posted July 20, 2015
By CJ Siewert
The St. Peter amateur baseball club clinched the No. 1 seed in region playoffs and claimed the regular season title in the River Valley League West with a 2-1 win Sunday at Gaylord.
Jesse Anderson pitched a complete game gem, allowing one earned run on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Anderson improves to 4-1 on the season with a 2.25 ERA.
The Saints struck first in the opening frame on a two-out rally. Ryan Kapsner reached on an error, moved to second on a Billy Hanson single and then scored on a single off the bat of Ryan Wenner.
Gaylord tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning on an error, sacrifice bunt and a double.
The local nine regained the lead at 2-1 in the fifth. Sam Wenner reached on an error, moved to second on a sac bunt by Kapsner and scored on a double by Hanson.
The Islanders threatened in the eighth with two runners in scoring position and two outs, but a sharp grounder ended the inning as third baseman Jordan Wilmes was able to tag out the runner trying to advance from second to third prior to the runner on third crossing home plate.
Ty Kaus (2-5) and Hanson (2-4, HBP, RBI) led the Saints at the plate.
With the win – their sixth consecutive – the Saints improve to 13-7 overall and 10-1 in the RVL. St. Peter will host two playoffs games Aug. 7 and Aug. 9. The first round game will be against the No. 4 seed out of the RVL Central – either Henderson or Le Sueur.
Next up for the Saints is the RVL regular season finale as they host Arlington at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Veterans Field. The game is also Raffle Night, as $1,000 in cash will split between three winners.
Photo: Billy Hanson drove in the game-winning run Sunday at Gaylord. The St. Peter catcher went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and a hit-by-pitch.
