Saints Top Hutchinson 6-1, Move On In Class C State Baseball

By Dana Melius, St. Peter Herald

Baseball's simple when your pitchers throw strikes and you play defense.

St. Peter did both well Saturday in Hamburg, winning 6-1 over Hutchinson in Hamburg and advancing to the final weekend of play in the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Class C state tournament.

St. Peter will next play 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 in Norwood against Green Isle, a 7-1 winner Sunday over Lamberton. The Class C tournament continues through Labor Day in Hamburg, Norwood and Green Isle.

Jesse Anderson tossed six innings to earn the win, allowing just three hits and one unearned run in the sixth inning. He struck out four and didn't walk a Hutch batter. Andy Regner again finished up for St. Peter, pitching the final three innings to secure the win. He gave up three hits, struck out one and also didn't walk any Hutch batter.

It's been a winning combination for the Saints in two state tourney victories.

"I like having the fireballer coming in after me," said Anderson, who started St. Peter's 2-1 first-round victory over Avon. In that game, the 39-year-old veteran managed five innings, as Regner finished up to earn the mound win when the Saints scored in the ninth inning.

Anderson again spotted his pitches well. He didn't throw a curveball until there was two outs in the third inning, trusting his fastball and the pitch calls of catcher Billy Hanson, whose strong play behind the plate continued, blocking pitches in the dirt on a field saturated from the day's rains.

"That's my catcher," Anderson said of Hanson.

Regner, 17, came out to start the seventh after the Saints had taken a 2-1 lead in the top half of the inning, thanks to a botched double play by the Hutch defense and throwing error into the first base dugout. The Huskies had four errors in the game.

The hard-throwing right hander didn't have Anderson's pinpoint control, but his fastball and slider contrasted his teammate's pitching style. And as the Saints added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, scoring twice each inning, Anderson was the first St. Peter player to greet Regner with a congratulatory embrace.

"It's really fun going out here and playing with the older guys," Regner said. And he appreciated the insurance runs as the Saints' offense came up with big hits and took advantage of eight base on balls from three Hutch pitchers, including 52-year-old Kyle Messner, who was second on the hill for the Huskies.

"It was a well-played game (by St. Peter)," added Regner, who took a deep breath after he worked out of the seventh inning to preserve a tight 2-1 lead. And despite being the youngest on the team, he's kept a confident presence on the mound.

"It's like any other playoff game," he said.

His big smile as Anderson congratulated another St. Peter state victory might have said otherwise.

Despite Hutch being one of the tournament favorites, Saints manager Tom Lacina said prior to the game that his team might be able to match the Huskies.

"As long as we play good, I'll be happy," Lacina said. And the Saints did, so it was a happy veteran manager after the game.

"I think we're a little bit better than they (Hutch) thought we were," he said, with a smile.

St. Peter lead-off hitter Ty Kaus was the best at the plate, going 3-for-4 and adding a walk and sacrifice bunt which led to that go-ahead run in the seventh. He scored a run and added an RBI.

Shea Roehrkasse added two hits, including a first-inning RBI single which scored Kaus from second. And Jeff Menk's key double down the left field line in the eighth gave the Saints a 3-1 lead. He scored two batters later on Kaus' single up the middle.

And Saints shortstop Jayme Munstermann was the best in the field. His bare-handed pick up of a slow roller with one out in the fourth helped secure a tenuous 1-0 St. Peter lead. And his snare of a one-hop liner to deep short and strong throw to first to open the eighth impressed the late-night crowd in Hamburg.

The game started an hour later than the scheduled 7:30 p.m. start due to the day's rains and delays, and concluded at about 11 p.m. But despite the wet field, the Saints defense — and Munstermann — played well.

Lacina said his shortstop "just keeps getting better and better." The manager moved the converted second baseman to shortstop a couple seasons ago "because I didn't really have other options." Saturday night, Munstermann shined bright under Hamburg's lights.

The Saints improved to 20-11-1; Hutchinson finished the season 29-8.