LUVERNE — Clutch pitching and a couple of late insurance runs propelled Winnebago/Blue Earth.

WBE American Legion baseball Posts 82 & 89 eliminated Minneota Post 199, 7-4, in the elimination bracket of the Division II, Southwest Sub-State tournament Saturday in Luverne.

WBE (12-2) moves on to face Springfield at 2:30 p.m. Friday in another elimination game in Luverne. The winner of that game will play Heron Lake-Okabena at 5 p.m. Friday for the chance to move on and face Luverne at noon Saturday in the championship game. The elimination-bracket survivor would have to defeat Luverne twice to advance to the state tournament.

Koby Nagel pitched WBE to the win with a 6 2/3-inning outing, only being pulled for the final batter because he reached the 105-pitch limit. Jared Kennedy came in to get the save, firing two pitches and forcing a flyout to end the game.

With a one-run lead in the sixth, Nagel stepped up to keep WBE ahead.

Minneota put runners on second and third with only one out after a single and a hit batter, but Nagel struck out the next batter looking, then struck out the final batter swinging to end the inning with no damage.

“I thought we played great and hit the ball well,” Nagel said. “I just kept pitching, let them hit the ball and did my thing.”

WBE head coach Paul Nienaber said Nagel stepped up when it mattered.

“He’s got a really nice cut on his pointer finger on his pitching hand,” Nienaber said. “He pitched the whole game with that and we were wondering if he was even going to be able to go. We had a contingency plan ready. For him to be able to come out and battle like that was huge. He had two big strikeouts in the sixth, those were massive. He had the tying run on third, the momentum ready to switch, to get those was huge.”

After a three-hour rain delay before the start of the game, WBE’s offense got the action started early.

Caelan Sanders led off the game with a single that dropped into right field before Joseph Schavey reached on an error. Karson Legred continued his hot hitting in tournament play when he doubled to left. Sanders scored on the double, but the rain-soaked field tripped up Schavey rounding third and he had to return to the base.

Both Schavey and Keegan O’Brien — Legred’s courtesy runner — scored when Brayden Barnett got his first of three hits, this one a single to center.

Nienaber said WBE was able to stay focused through a mentally tough day with the rain.

“Today was big, we overcame a lot of stuff,” Nienaber said. “It’s hard when you’ve been planning on a noon game, and then it’s 1 o’clock, then it’s 2 o’clock, then it’s 3 o’clock, it’s hard to keep your mental focus. I thought both teams played outstanding when it came to that. … I love the way we came to the park, it was just a good battle between two really good teams.”

Posts 82 & 89 put another run on the scoreboard in the second inning when Nagel was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a Luke Mertens right-side groundout and scored when Gavin Storbeck reached on an error.

In the third, WBE scored its fifth run when Barnett bunted for a single, moved to second on an errant pickoff throw and touched home on Hunter Bleess’ double deep to right-center. Bleess was the next victim of the wet field, slipping as he rounded second and getting caught in a rundown to end the inning.

WBE’s bats went quiet for three innings, but they heated up to score two insurance runs in the seventh.

Legred led off the final frame with a single to right center, then courtesy runner O’Brien stole second and scored on Barnett’s third hit — this time doubling down the left-field line. Barnett reached third on Minneota’s throw home before scoring on a passed ball.

For WBE to win the tournament, it will have to win four games in two days, Nienaber said the depth of the team will play a big role.

“Pitching will be at a premium,” Nienaber said. “That’s one thing I love about our ballclub, there’s not a whole lot of teams that are as deep as we are. … You talk about depth, I like our chances.”

Barnett led the WBE offense with three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored, while Legred had a double, a single and an RBI, while Bleess had an RBI double.

WBE 311 000 2 — 7 8 1

MIN 103 000 0 — 4 10 3

Koby Nagel (WP), Jared Kennedy (7, Sv) and Karson Legred. Landon Rolbiecki (LP), Ted Pesche (6), AJ Myhre (7) and Carter Schuelke, Jaymes Moon (6).

LOB–WBE 8, MIN 8. 2B–Karson Legred (WBE), Hunter Bleess (WBE), Brayden Barnett (WBE), Jaymes Moon (MIN), Austin Sorensen (MIN), Grady Moorse (MIN).