The Blue Sox picked the right time to get their bats going in a 1-0 win over Cold Springs on the second day of pool play in the SpamTown Challenge Friday at Marcusen Park.

After getting just two hits in the first five innings combined, Austin (11-1 overall) pieced together two singles in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good.

Aaron Port started the rally wihen he lined a one-out single up the middle. Port then advanced from first to second on a wild pitch and went from second to third on another wild pitch.

Joe Kroc lifted a single to left field to score Port and give the Blue Sox the lead for good.

“We were pretty determined tonight. A lot of us played angry,” said Blue Sox manager and right fielder Josh Kunze.

Austin pitcher Joe Huffman closed out his shutout in the seventh when he forced Cold Spring’s Ben Griffin to ground out into a game ending double play. Brian Voigt scooped it up at third, fired to Casey Toops at second, who took a hit as he was throwing to first to beat out Griffin.

The Springers had runners at first and third with one out and would’ve tied the game if Toops hadn’t thrown out Griffin.

“Brian (Voigt)’s been getting ate up a lot lately on some tough hops. He just bellied up and sucked it in and got it to Casey, who hung in there and got blown up while making a nice relay,” Kunze said. “I can’t say enough about Casey Toops tonight, his glove was just unreal and he saved us about four runs himself.”

To get the grounder, Huffman just did what he had been doing all night — throw a two-seam fast ball.

“I threw a lot of two-seamers tonight and I got a lot of ground balls with it. The defense was unbelievable and they have been all year,” he said.

Kunze said Huffman’s presence was a lift to the squad, which was playing without starters Nate Johnson and Zach Vleitstra.

“It’s always good to have Joe out there, because he keeps it around the plate. It’s nice to return to normal Blue Sox baseball,” he said. “We’ve now beaten Mankato and Cold Springs (which won the SpamTown Challenge last year) in one week and not too many teams can say that.”

Austin stranded a runner on third in the fourth when Toops hit a one-out double and advanced to third on a groundout by Dan Swift. Duell Higbe struck out to end the inning.

The Springers multiple runners on in the fifth, third and first innings.

The Blue Sox will play Prescott Saturday at 8:30 p.m. If Austin can beat the Pirates and Cold Spring knocks off the Chicago Wildcats, who beat Austin but lost to Prescott, the Blue Sox could advance to the final four on Sunday.

“I wanted to set the tempo for this team that we aren’t going to lay down in this tournament,” Huffman said. “We haven’t been to Sunday in this tourney in a few years. We really want to go Sunday. But we’ve got to beat Prescott, they’re a tough team and they can hit.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

Springers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0

Blue Sox 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 2

Blue Sox pitching: Joe Huffman (W), 7 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 0 R, 4 K

Blue Sox hitting: Aaron Port, 1-for-3, R; Joe Kroc, 1-for-3, RBI; Casey Toops, 1-for-3, double; Dan Swift, 0-for-1, BB; Duell Higbe, 0-for-2; Pat Wolard, 0-for-2; Brian Voigt, 0-for-2; Josh Kunze, 0-for-2; Brandon Rector, 1-for-1

Springers pitching: Chris Butala (L), 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Springers hitting: Brian Hansen, 1-for-4; Tyler Horning, 1-for-3, double; Steve Huls, 2-for-4, double; Ben Griffin, 0-for-2, 2 BBs; Zach Femrite, 0-for-3; Rick Burtzel, 1-for-3; Brad Olson, 1-for-3; Brian Skluzacek, 0-for-1, 2 BBs; Ryan Lieser, 0-for-3