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Chirpich’s 12 innings lift New Ulm past Princeton

ABOVE: Fairmont Martins pitcher Spencer Chirpich greets New Ulm Brewers catcher Ayden Jensen following one of Chirpich’s 12 innings pitched Sunday for New Ulm during a Class B state amateur baseball tournament game in Hutchinson. Chirpich was drafted by the Brewers following the District 8B tournament this year.

HUTCHINSON — Trevor Nissen’s 18th-inning, walk-off home run for the New Ulm Brewers Sunday night beat the Princeton Panthers 3-2 in the second round of the Class C Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament.

One big reason he even had the chance to take that at-bat, however, came thanks to a right-handed pitcher in a light blue jersey.

New Ulm’s 18-inning state win featured three solo homers, two from Nissen and one that tied it in the ninth by Andrew Peters. But one player sporting a Fairmont Martins jersey deserved just as much credit for the win, that player being Spencer Chirpich.

Chirpich took over mound duties in the seventh inning for Brewers starter Mitch Bockenstedt. Little did Chirpich know that he was in for 12 innings of relief work.

With nothing but a candy bar in the dugout and adrenaline to fuel him during the extra frames, Chirpich was dialed in for the Brewers, proving how valuable of a first-round draft pick he was. Chirpich was picked first in the District 8B draft by the Brewers following the District 8B tourney, which was won by New Ulm.

Chirpich allowed just three hits, one walk and a hit batsman while fanning nine in his 12 innings pitched. Each hit allowed came in separate innings, giving Chirpich nine innings of no-hit ball.

“Just as the draftee coming in, getting outs, putting up zeros, giving the offense a chance to win, that was really my goal coming into the game,” Chirpich said. “Just getting guys out and hopefully offense could do their thing. We had a couple chances, but Trevor came up with the big one right there.”

Chirpich’s first inning Sunday was a 1-2-3 inning, one of eight he had in the game. While he wouldn’t have minded getting off the mound sooner with a win, Brewers manager Al Flor let Chirpich know he trusted him in the extra innings and Chirpich wasn’t going to let the team down.

“I came off after I don’t know what inning it was, 10th, 11th, and Al said, ‘It’s your game,'” Chirpich said. “So he trusted me. I was getting a little tired but just getting guys out. That’s what it’s about.”

After finishing his high school baseball career as a 2015 Fairmont High School grad, Chirpich went on to pitch at North Iowa Area CC for two years before a three-year pitching stint with Abilene Christian University.

Chirpich has pitched in his share of state tournament with the Martins, but he was unable to when the team won the Class C state tournament in 2020 due to college baseball commitments. Following that state win, the Martins made the Class C state tourney in 2022, 2023 and 2024 until their move to Class B this season.

While the Martins weren’t able to punch a Class B state ticket, Chirpich has embraced his draftee spot with the Brewers in hopes of celebrating a state championship. On Sunday, he became even more acquainted with Brewers catcher Ayden Jensen than expected, but it was worth it in the end.

“[Ayden] Jensen worked well behind the dish, defense made some plays, got out of some jams and ended up with a walk-off home run from Trevor,” Chirpich said.

The Brewers will play the Foley Lumberjacks at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Brownton at Barney Tadsen Field. A loss ends the season, while a win moves the Brewers on to a Sunday semifinals game in Hutchinson. The Class B title game takes place Monday at 1 p.m. in Hutchinson.

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