Kane Malo, above, takes a pitch during the Blue Earth Pirates’ regional championship appearance.

A five-run eighth inning and nine frames of shutout work from pitcher Aaron Wendt on Sunday, Aug. 21, lifted the No. 2-seeded Blue Earth Pirates to the second round of state tournament play.

Squaring off with the St. Joseph Joes to kick off their 14th consecutive appearance in the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Championships, the Pirates rebounded from an exhaustive finish at regionals to capture a 6-0 victory over the Joes.

After knocking in a run against St. Joseph starter Greg Anderson in the first inning of Sunday afternoon’s contest, the Pirates’ bats stalled, mustering six hits but no additional runs over the game’s first seven innings.

Wendt had things working in his favor on the mound, however, so Blue Earth kept its lead until the final out was recorded. A veteran of complete-game starts for the Pirates, Wendt surrendered five hits on the day, striking out nine and keeping the Joes off the scoreboard.

Protecting a 1-0 lead in the eighth, the Pirates finally came alive in the bottom of the inning, stringing together hits off Jeff Amann, who relieved Anderson and had just been drafted for tournament play from the Sartell Stone Poneys.

Three runs later, the Joes called on Joe Stock to take the hill, but Blue Earth continued its late surge, milking two more runs out of three hits and a pair of walks more than enough insurance for Wendt’s final inning.

Shortstop T.J. Schmidtke led the Pirates with two runs, walking and doubling during his 2-for-3 afternoon.

Third baseman Kane Malo, right fielder Brandyn Olsen, pinch runner Kaylan Legred and player/manager Lee Hodges also scored for the Pirates, who racked up five walks and three hit-by-pitches.

Catcher Bobby Olson, who had one of those walks as well as a hit-by-pitch, collected a hit at the plate, too. Ditto for Malo, Olsen, Hodges and left fielder John Franta, who went 2 for 2 with an RBI.

Center fielder Cody Sukalski went 0 for 5 in the leadoff spot but had a stolen base and drove in one of Blue Earth’s six runs, joining Franta, Malo, Olsen and Hodges in the Pirates’ RBI?crew against St. Joseph.

Right fielder Ethan Carlson went 2 for 4 for St. Joseph, while Stock, Zack Overboe and Hunter Blommer also had hits in the Joes’ losing effort.

The Pirates, having now won three of their last four games and 12 of their last 14 dating back to the regular season, earned a return trip to Hutchinson for the next round of the state bracket a 5 p.m. bout with the Elrosa Saints on Saturday, Aug. 27, at Veterans Memorial Park.

With a win over the Saints, the Pirates, who recently drafted Cannon?Falls’ Rich Burr and Waterville’s Derek Masberg, would next be scheduled for a Sept. 3 game against either the Plato Bluejays or Fergus Falls Hurricanes.

The winner of that matchup would advance to the quarterfinals of Class C state competition.