NEW ULM — Wilson Magers’ dominating one-hitter carried Mankato Post 11 National to a 4-0 win over Mankato Post 11 American in the Division 1 Sub-State 2 Legion Baseball Tournament on Saturday at Johnson Park.
Magers, who will be attending Creighton in the fall, used a blazing fastball along with some sharp-breaking off-speed pitches to stymie American. Magers allowed a first-inning single to losing pitcher Nicholas Werk before setting down the next 20 hitters.
“This was a good way to start the postseason journey for us,” said Magers, who struck out 14 in a 93-pitch gem. “Now, we hope we can make a deep run at the state tournament. I felt every pitch was working for me and that if I could hit the outside corner it would be a tough day for them. I just wanted to get ahead and not give them any free bases.
“I was able to get the fastball by them early before using the off-speed stuff later in the game. I was mainly hitting the outside corner before going up high with two strikes and blowing it past them.”
National (15-5) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning when a single by catcher Adam Timm and left fielder Taevin Pribyl’s bunt single set up right fielder Jayden Knudson’s two-run, two-out single off a diving Riston Wojcik at third base.
Knudson made a nifty acrobatic snag in the fourth inning before Pribyl picked off a liner two innings later.
“We were able to sit back and drive the ball to score a few runs,” Knudson said. “I was confident at the plate and he threw me that outside fastball on 3-2 so I drove it the other way. We have a lot of good utility players on this team, and we know how to score runs and play defense.”
Magers had three stretches where he fanned four straight hitters. He recorded seven strikeouts looking, including three in the fifth inning.
Werk allowed two runs on six hits over four innings while striking out four and walking two.
“Whenever you play (National), it’s going to be a pitchers’ duel,” Werk said. “I just went out there and trusted my stuff along with my defense. We just didn’t make the adjustments we needed to at the plate. They’re a good ball team, and you’re not going to win without scoring runs. … Watching all these kids out here today grow up as people and players is very satisfying.”
American (17-8) fell behind 4-0 when an opposite-field double by Knudson, a walk to Zach Benson and Magers’ two-run, two-out single produced two sixth-inning runs. Magers and Knudson collected two hits each for the winners, who left nine runners on base.
“Wilson is an unbelievable pitcher who mixes his speed up very well,” National coach Jamie Mulvihill said. “American is a very good hitting team, and he went after them like a bulldog today. We’ve got timely hitting all year and it was fun to watch our guys have quality at-bats against a very good pitcher in Nicholas Werk. We’ve had a team effort all year and these guys are really behind each other.”
National opens the state tournament at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Delano. The opponent has yet to be determined.