Sometimes, a heavyweight matchup between state-ranked teams not only lives up to its billing, it turns into something special.
No. 3 ranked New Covenant Academy downed No. 5 Walnut Grove 2-1 Thursday to win its first-ever district title in a thrilling, extra-innings affair.
After Silas Siebert's eighth-inning double drove in Corbin Morgan for the walk-off victory, the Warrior players looked almost confused as they haphazardly ran on the field to celebrate.
Turns out it's not easy to act like you've been there before when your program is only two years old.
For New Covenant head coach John Hartley, the celebration gaffe marked yet another first for the second-year team.
"We're playing with house money," Hartley said. "Starting from scratch, to even be in that position was a blessing and a special place to be. We'd even practiced a dog-pile, so that they could have a little bit of experience, because they don't even know how to do that … and they kind of messed that up, too. They're going to get better at it, because we're going to be around a while."
After scoring the game's initial run on a first-inning Josh Isbell single, it was only fitting for Seibert to deliver the eighth-inning bookend off Walnut Grove reliever Hayden Jeffryes.
"I just got up there and I knew the kid before me couldn't do his job," Siebert said. "So I said, 'This is it.' I knew [Jeffryes] was going to throw me a fastball, so I just hit the first thing I saw right down the middle."
The walk-off hit capped a classic pitcher's duel featuring two of the area's premier arms in New Covenant's Cody Malan and Walnut Grove's Logan Thomazin.
Malan, in particular, was ruthlessly efficient. After a shaky first inning, the Warriors' right-hander put on an absolute clinic with 14 strikeouts in seven innings.
His secret weapon?
Tempo.
"My coach told me, like after the first inning, that I was working too slow so to pick up the rhythm," Malan said. "Once that happened, I just sort of got going and carried the momentum."
That momentum was showcased in the second inning's top half, which took less time than a typical gas station fill-up. The hard-throwing Malan used a total of nine, rapid-fire pitches to strike out the side and set the game's tone early on. Two innings later, the senior struck out the side once again.
Malan was relieved in the eighth by lefty Alan Ramsey.
On the other side of the field, Thomazin was not to be outdone.
The Walnut Grove sophomore struck out the side in the third inning and fanned six of seven hitters over the same stretch. Thomazin's line featured ten strikeouts, a single walk and four scattered hits.
Hartley praised both pitchers for their competitive nature and durability.
"[Malan] got outs when he needed to," Hartley said. "We call him the Minnesota Moose, and there's a reason for that. He was out there for a lot of pitches, as was Mr. Thomazin. That was just two quality arms, quality players, quality people going after each other. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better pitcher matchup then what that was, right there."
Back-to-back hits from Kolten Buckner and Jaron Dishman in the sixth allowed the Tigers to finally find an opening, plate the game's tying run and set the stage for the wild finish.
Next up for New Covenant (20-3) is a Monday sectional matchup against District 8 champion Macks Creek (12-15). The Pirates stunned top seed and No. 6 Hermitage 5-4 to reach the sectional round.
New Covenant – 2, Walnut Grove – 1
Walnut Grove 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1
New Covenant 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 2
