Saxony Lutheran's season ends on Valle's walkoff hit

STE. GENEVIEVE — Saxony Lutheran junior Chris Roth slapped a three-run double off Valle Catholic pitcher Nathan Geile to give his Crusaders the lead in the fifth inning.

Geile returned the favor in the bottom of the seventh.

Geile ripped a solid single to center off Roth with the bases loaded to score two and lift the Warriors to the 4-3 comeback win in their Class 1 District 3 title game Friday at Yanks Field.

"I was just trying for a fly ball to tie it up," Geile said. "I wasn't thinking about a base hit. I was just trying to hit it in the air."

But after he worked the count full, Geile knew what was coming.

"I figured it was going to be a fastball on the full count and that's what it was," Geile said. "I knew it was going to be the game-winner."

Roth said he had no choice but to throw the fastball with the bases loaded and a full count.

"I knew I had to throw the fastball and make sure I got it across for a strike," Roth said. "He hit it."

The bottom of the seventh started with Luke Udriy bunting for a single, but he was erased when Cole Bieser hit into a fielder's choice. Mike Greminger followed with a double that he smoked off the left-field wall, but Bieser had to hold up to make sure it wasn't caught, and he only reached third.

"I knew as soon as we got someone on base I was going to get fastball first pitch," Greminger said. "He left it high, so I jumped on it."

The Crusaders decided to intentionally walk Casey Koller to load the bases with one out.

"I figured we would for the force out at home," Roth said. "It was the smart thing to do."

Saxony never had a chance to throw out Greminger, who scored from second on Geile's game-winning single.

"As soon as it hit, I knew there was going to be a play at four," Greminger said. "I was getting down no matter what."

Geile dominated the Crusaders early, striking out seven through the first four innings. Saxony coach Paul Sander said he told his players to adjust their approach at the plate after the slow start.

"I think early on we were striking out more than we did late," Sander said. "We told them after we got several strikeouts in the first trip through the order, we told them, 'If you get the fastball on the first pitch and it's down the middle, hit it.' We started putting more balls in play after that."

Saxony finally got to Geile in the fifth inning. Bret Steffens led off with a walk and went to second on Spencer Sander's single. But Geile recovered to strike out the next two batters. After another walk, Roth stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

"I was figuring I'd get a fastball," Roth said. "He'd been struggling and [the count] was 1-0, so I was figuring baseball. I thought I just popped it up. I didn't think it was going near as far as it did."

Roth's double cleared the bases and gave the Crusaders their first lead at 3-2. He came on to pitch in the bottom of the fifth after starter Garrett Fritsche got into a little trouble with two outs. Roth got out of the fifth unscathed and worked through a single and a walk in the sixth to maintain the Crusaders' lead heading into the decisive seventh.

Geile finished with 12 strikeouts, three walks and hit two batters.

"He throws pretty hard," Fritsche said. "He's not as good as I thought he was, but he's a great pitcher."

Fritsche did a nice job keeping Saxony in the game early. He struck out four and walked three over 4 2/3 innings. Valle collected four hits off him.

"I got ahead and I just mixed the pitches real well," Fritsche said. "I talked to a buddy of mine who faced them before and he said to just mix them to throw them off."

Valle (20-5) advanced to play Winona in the sectional round, while Saxony Lutheran finished its season 16-6.

Saxony 000 030 0 — 3 3 0

Valle 010 100 2 — 4 8 1

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:WP — Nathan Geile. LP — Chris Roth. 2B — Jason Blum (V), Mike Greminger (V), Roth (SL). Multiple hits — Valle: Greminger 2-4, Geile 2-3. Records — Saxony 16-6, Valle 20-5.