For the third time in four years, the Gehlen Catholic baseball team claimed a district championship with a 6-5 win in eight innings over Kingsley-Pierson in Le Mars on Saturday night.
The Jays, however, nearly experience déjà vu in a game with Kingsley-Pierson. After giving up a four-run lead in the seventh to lose to the Panthers three weeks ago, the Jays gave up a two-run lead in the seventh this time. That required Gehlen to score a run in the seventh to tie the game and ultimately walk the game off in the eighth. Head coach TJ Britton says he is proud of the way his team has grown lately.
After giving up that big of a lead that late again, it would have been understandable if the Jays got in their own head about having to come back in the seventh inning. Coach Britton says the guys did not get in that headspace and continued their approach at the plate.
Brayden Horkey was the pitcher tasked with throwing all eight innings for Gehlen in the win. There were some questions going in about whether the Jays would try to limit his pitch count to save him for the substate final on Tuesday. Coach Britton says he thought about it, but he knew that Horkey was deserving of the opportunity.
The game remained close throughout the night because the Jays did the bare minimum to put runs on the board. They left the bases loaded in many times and finished leaving 17 runners on base in the game. Coach Britton says he was happier that the guys did a better job putting the ball in play this time than their last time against the Panthers.
Gehlen now advances to the substate final with a 24-7 record to take on fifth-ranked Newman Catholic in Algona on Tuesday night. The Jays are now the underdog going into the matchup as the perennial power Knights remain the favorite to go to state. Coach Britton says he is alright with being the underdog going into the game.
First pitch between the Jays and Knights is set for 7:00 PM in Algona on Tuesday night. KLEM Radio will bring you the game live from Algona with coverage starting at 6:45 PM.
