Photo courtesy of Ari Selvey/The Journal, New Ulm: Marshall 15U VFW Orange second baseman Eli Weedman hits a pitch during the Tigers’ 11-2 win over Sleepy Eye in the District 2 VFW playoffs on Thursday night.

MANKATO — The Marshall 15U VFW Orange baseball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in their VFW District 2 Tournament matchup against No. 6 Sleepy Eye Thursday night. The Tigers won 11-2 to move on to the winner’s bracket semifinals, where they will play top-seeded Mankato East.

Marshall struck first in the first inning. Eli Weedman singled to lead off the game. He was caught stealing second, but Tyson Louwagie tripled on the next at-bat before scoring on an Andrew Stelter ground out. Louwagie finished the day with three hits in four at-bats, a performance Marshall manager Paul Blanchard attributed to Louwagie’s improved plate discipline.

After allowing a pair of runs to Sleepy Eye in the top of the second, Marshall responded with four runs of its own and carried that lead for the rest of the game.

Carson Kopitski started the Marshall rally with a single and Shep Jensen reached on an error to put two runners on. After a ground out, Leyton Wherry singled to left field to drive in both runners.

Wherry then stole second and advanced to third on Weedman’s single. Weedman then tried to steal again, this time successfully, and Wherry scored on an error while attempting to catch him stealing. Louwagie capped off the scoring in the frame with an RBI single to right field.

Eli Alcorn started the game on the mound for Marshall, allowing two hits over four innings with four strikeouts. Of the two runs he allowed, just one was earned.

The Sleepy Eye runs came in the top of the second. Each of the first two Sleepy Eye batters walked. After one was caught trying to steal third — while the other successfully stole second — a single put runners on the corners. The runner on third stole home while the runner on first stole second. From there, a throwing error allowed the other runner to score from second, putting Sleepy Eye up 2-1.

Weedman and Ian Brockberg came in as the relievers for Marshall. Weedman pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. Brockberg closed out the game with a hitless, scoreless seventh inning. He allowed two walks while striking out a batter.

“When you get into a tournament like this where you’re going to have multiple games, seven innings is a lot to ask out of somebody. When you have a lot of depth, you can stay in games longer,” Blanchard said, adding that the team has used five different pitchers through its first two games of the tournament and has been able to hone in on its strengths by experimenting with different pitchers throughout the season.

Levi Maeyaert hit a double with one out in the bottom of the fifth and courtesy runner Jackson Martin went on to score when Kopitski singled to center field. Kopitski then stole second and scored himself when Eli Alcorn doubled to center.

Marshall capped off its scoring with three sixth-inning runs. Louwagie singled with two outs and, after stealing second, scored on a Stelter single. Stelter advanced to third when Sleepy Eye tried to catch Louwagie at the plate. He then scored on a wild pitch to put Marshall up 10-2.

Maeyaert, Logan Phillippe and Kopitski walked consecutively to load the bases before an Eli Alcorn walk gave Marshall its final run of the game.

The Tigers will take on Mankato East at Mankato East High School on Saturday at noon with a finals appearance on the line. The loser will still have the chance to compete for a championship by advancing through the elimination bracket.

“We’re going to certainly let them know that we can’t give them any freebies — that’s what we call walks, hit batters, wild pitches. We can’t afford to give them any free bases,” Blanchard said. “They’re a really good team. They have a solid, solid ball club. If we can limit the number of free bases we give up, that should help our chances. They’re as good of a team as we’ve seen, so it’s going to take our best effort to win that game.”