MANKATO – Fairmont American Legion Post 36 saw its season come to a close during the Division I, 2nd District baseball playoffs Friday night at Wolverton Field in Mankato.

Post 36 committed five errors on the night and did not record a hit until the ninth inning in an 8-0 defeat at the hands of New Ulm Gold.

New Ulm Gold advances to the championship and will face Sleepy Eye at noon today at Wolverton Field in Mankato.

It was a disappointing night for Fairmont (8-9) as it looked to build off of the momentum it received from two solid performances on Thursday.

“(The loss) was unexpected,” Fairmont head coach Scott Chirpich said. “I thought we had a good chance going in with Spencer (Chirpich) on the mound. We just didn’t make a couple plays and we got down on ourselves.”

New Ulm Gold starting pitcher Connor Forbrook threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout with five strikeouts. He walked two.

Fairmont’s Tyler Tennyson broke up the no-hitter with one out in the ninth on an opposite-field double.

“We got behind, we got in that hole,” said Scott Chirpich. “The last two games that we won, we jumped on ’em right away. It showed that we struggle to play without the lead.”

Spencer Chirpich allowed six runs for Fairmont, but only two were earned due to three first-inning errors.

Judd Davis led off the bottom of the first for New Ulm Gold with a single up the middle. Wyatt Peterson followed and attempted to sacrifice bunt, but Spencer Chirpich fielded it with a chance to throw Davis out at second. His throw went wide, though, putting runners on the corners with none out. Davis later scored on a passed ball.

Spencer Chirpich struck out Tanner Kluis next, but catcher Ben Abel missed the third strike, and Peterson raced to third as the ball rolled to the backstop.

Grant Kannegiesser stepped in next and singled to score Peterson and advance Kluis to second. Kluis then took third as Fairmont’s throw from the outfield that missed the cutoff man. Kluis later scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Spencer Chirpich hit Collin Helget with a pitch and Gabe Knowles hit an infield single to load the bases. Brandon Beranek followed with a single to score Kannegiesser for the final run of the inning.

New Ulm Gold added another unearned run in the third when Alex Guggisberg’s sacrifice fly scored Knowles who reached on a fielding error by Matt Lytle.

After a tenminute rain delay, New Ulm Gold closed out the scoring in the fourth.

Davis singled to lead off the inning, Peterson moved him over with a bunt, and Kluis walked. Kannegiesser drove Davis in with another single, moving Kluis to third.

With runners on the corners, Kannegiesser tried to steal second. He slid in safely, and Kluis broke for home.

Eli Green’s throw to the plate got away from Abel, allowing Kannegiesser to take third. When no Fairmont player covered home, Kannegiesser took home as well.

Abel came close to breaking up the no-hitter in the eigth with a bouncing ground ball up the middle, but Davis robbed him.

He dove to grab the ball, and in one motion, stood up, spun, and fired to first for the out.

Despite the tough loss, Scott Chirpich was pleased with his team’s playoff performance.

“I thought we had a good chance of getting to (this round),” he said. “I hoped to get to that last day and be in the final three, but we just came up a little bit short.”

FMT 000 000 000 – 0 1 5

NUG 401 300 00x – 8 12 0

Spencer Chirpich (LP), Kale Fritz (4), Clayton Maakestad (7) and Ben Abel. Connor Forbrook (WP) and Grant Kannegiesser.

LOB-Fairmont 3; New Ulm Gold 12. 2B-Tyler Tennyson (FMT), Collin Helget (NUG). SAC-Wyatt Peterson (NUG). SF-Alex Guggisberg (NUG).