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St. Martin (23-6) beat New London-Spicer 4-2 on Saturday and beat Spring Hill 4-2 on Sunday to advance through the loser's bracket and finish as the Region 15C runner-up. The Martins lost the region championship to New Munich 7-1 on Sunday.

Ken Arceneau pitched eight innings, allowing one earned run, in the Martins 4-2 victory over New London-Spicer on Saturday.

"We played pretty well. I was pretty happy," said St. Martin manager Carl Lieser, who added that the team was pretty excited to return to state.

This will be St. Martin's fourth trip to the state tournament, the Martins having qualified previously in 1966, 1985, and 1998.

St. Martin will play Granite Falls, the Region 2C champion, on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 11 a.m. in Belle Plaine.

New Munich, the Region 15C champion, will play Essig, the Region 2C runner-up, on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 1:30 p.m. in Belle Plaine.

A fan bus is being organized from St. Martin to attend both games involving Stearns County League teams (St. Martin and New Munich) on Sunday. Details for the fan bus were not finalized at press time, but fans should call the Silver Spur Saloon at 320-548-3275 to sign up.

Roscoe, which hosted regions for the first time, set a Region 15C record with total attendance of 2,413 over two weekends, breaking the previous region record by three. Lake Henry had held the attendance record with 2,410 fans in 2000.

St. Martin 4, NL-S 2
St. Martin scored four unearned runs and turned a double play in the ninth inning to beat New London-Spicer 4-2 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.

St. Martin managed only three hits but scored four unearned runs, using four Twins errors, six walks, and two batters hit by pitches to score four runs.

After Luke Rothstein reached on an error in the second inning, Steve Lieser singled home the first run in the second inning, giving St. Martin a 1-0 lead.

In the second, St. Martin loaded the bases with walks to Nathan Schlangen, Jake Thelen, and Jesse Thelen, and then scored two runs on another Twins error.

New London-Spicer cut the deficit to 3-1 with an unearned run in the fifth inning, but the Martins scored again in the seventh. Jake Thelen walked again and scored again on another Twins error.

New London-Spicer loaded the bases in the ninth inning against Martins starter Ken Arceneau, who earned the pitching victory. Rothstein earned the save, walking one batter to score a run but then inducing a dribbler to the mound and turning a 1-2-3 double play to end the game.

NL-S--	000	010	001	- 2	5	4
St. Martin--	012	000	10x	- 4	3	1

New London-Spicer - Batting: Darrin Ogdahl 3-4 R; Chris Thompson 1-4 2B; Mike Thompson 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Josh French (L) (8-3-4-0-6-5).

St. Martin - Batting: Steve Lieser 1-2 RBI; Jake Thelen 1-2 2B R-2 BB-2; Luke Rothstein 1-4 R SB; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Ken Arceneau (W) (8.1-5-2-1-3-5); Rothstein (S) (0.2-0-0-0-1-0).

St. Martin 4, Spring Hill 2
The Martins secured a state berth by eliminating Spring Hill 4-2 on Sunday, ending the Chargers' season one win short of state.

St. Martin scored two runs in the bottom of the first and held a 2-1 lead through most of the game, adding insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings before allowing a run in the ninth.

Steve Lieser had one of three hits for St. Martin on Saturday, an RBI in the second inning.

Ryan Nett, a draftee from Farming, pitched a complete game for St. Martin, allowing only two runs while striking out 13.

After Shawn Schoenberg doubled and scored for Spring Hill in the top of the first, St. Martin answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Nathan Schlangen singled, Jake Thelen walked, and Sam Rothstein doubled home Schlangen. Luke Rothstein then successfully bunted on a suicide squeeze to score Thelen.

The Martins added a run in the seventh and eighth innings. Steve Lieser singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Schlangen in the seventh. And Luke Rothstein hit an RBI double in the eighth.

Spring Hill--	100	000	001	- 2	9	0
St. Martin--	200	000	11x	- 4	9	2

Spring Hill - Batting: Shawn Schoenberg 2-5 2B R; Ethan Vogt 2-4 RBI; Mike Terres 2-4 2B R; Matt Middendorf 1-1 RBI; Rick Lieser 1-4; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Vogt (L) (7-6-3-3-2-2); Schoen-berg (1-3-1-1-0-0).

St. Martin - Batting: Luke Rothstein 2-3 2B RBI-2; Sam Rothstein 2-4 2B-2 RBI R; Nathan Schlangen 2-4 RBI R; Steve Lieser 1-2 R; Jake Thelen 1-3 R; Nathan Beier 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Ryan Nett (W) (9-9-2-2-2-13).

New Munich 7, Martins 1
New Munich broke a 1-1 tie by scoring six runs in their final four at bats and beat St. Martin 7-1 on Sunday for the Region 15C title.

Through five innings, the two Stearns County League rivals were tied at 1-1. But New Munich scored a run in the sixth, two in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one in the ninth to win 7-1. Both teams advance to the state tournament.

St. Martin scored their only run in the second inning, taking a brief 1-0 lead on Nathan Beier's two-out RBI single. New Munich, though, tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the third.

As region champs, New Munich drafted Elrosa pitcher Ethan Vogt, the brother of Elrosa pitcher Aaron Vogt, who pitched a complete game against St. Martin on Sunday.

St. Martin drafted Spring Hill pitcher Rick Lieser for their state tournament run.

New Munich will play in their fourth state tournament as well, having previously competed at state in 1965, 2000, and 2001.

New Munich--	001	001	221	- 7	9	0
St. Martin--	010	000	000	- 1	6	0

New Munich - Batting: Jim Hoppe 3-4 2B RBI-2; Chad Funk 2-4 R-2; Tony Rademacher 1-1 RBI R-2 BB-3; Nick Stangler 1-1; Jeff Funk 1-3 R; Karl Funk 1-4 RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Aaron Vogt (W) (9-6-1-1-2-6).

St. Martin - Batting: Nathan Beier 2-2 RBI SB; Ken Arceneau 1-1 R; Jesse Thelen 1-3; Sam Rothstein 1-4; Nathan Schlangen 1-4; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Schlangen (3-3-1-1-1-1); Josh Harrison (L) (3-2-1-1-3-4); Sam Rothstein (1-2-4-4-3-0); Tim Schaefer (2-2-1-1-1-1).

Region 15C Tourney at Roscoe
Saturday, Aug. 7
Game #1
St. Martin 10, Regal 1 (seven innings)
Game #2
New Munich 8, New London-Spicer 6
Game #3
Spring Hill 3, Lake Henry 1
Sunday, Aug. 8
Game #4
New Munich 4, St. Martin 2 (10 innings)
Game #5
Spring Hill 9, Regal 1 Regal eliminated
Game #6
New London-Spicer 11, Lake Henry 6 Lake Henry eliminated
Saturday, Aug. 14
Game #7
New Munich 3, Spring Hill 1
Game #8
St. Martin 4, New London-Spicer 2 New London-Spicer eliminated
Sunday, Aug. 15
Game #9
St. Martin 4, Spring Hill 2 Spring Hill eliminated
Game #10
New Munich 7, St. Martin 1

New Munich and St. Martin advance to the 2004 State Class C Baseball Tournament.
St. Martin will play Granite Falls, Region 2C champion, on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 11 a.m. in Belle Plaine.
New Munich will play Essig, the Region 2C runner-up, on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 1:30 p.m., also in Belle Plaine.