The Houn’ Dawgs’ terrific baseball season kept on rolling on Thursday. For the first time in school history, Aurora (27-3) will head to the Final Four after handling their business in the Class 4 quarterfinal round by beating Helias Catholic 9-4.
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“I don’t even know how to say it,” admitted Aurora coach James Hoffman. “From where we came from and where we are right now over the last three years with this group, this is incredible. For these kids and this community, it’s, I mean I don’t even know what to say. They have worked their tails off all year long.”
Aside from one bad inning, Aurora outplayed the Crusaders and beat them handily. They got on the board right away in the bottom of the first and led 2-0 going into the fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth, the Crusaders jumped on Aurora when the lead-off batter drilled a ground-rule double that bounced off the turf and went over the centerfield wall. Helias recorded four hits in the inning and actually took the lead 3-2. But it didn’t last long.
The Houn’ Dawgs would answer in their half of the inning. Preston Naylor and Matthew Miller each had RBI singles to put Aurora back on top 4-3. Then standout freshman Gage Singer ripped a single up the middle to drive in two more runs, breaking the game open 6-3.
“I’m just feeling pretty confident,” said Singer, who bats third in the lineup and plays short stop as a freshman. “I think we just don’t get rattled when we get down and just keep battling and never give up. We’ve got a great group of guys.”
Aurora would add two more runs in the very next inning. A couple big hits by Kaleb Baker and Tyler Moore led to some mistakes by Helias, giving Aurora an 8-3 advantage.
“They just get it done,” Hoffman said of his guys. “And I might sound arrogant, but I knew that [Helias] lead wasn’t going to last very long with the way our guys approached the plate and the swings that we’ve been putting on the baseball the last couple weeks. I had every bit of confidence in our offense that we were going to get the job done.”
Sophomore pitcher Wyatt Sparks went six innings and gave up ten hits, three walks and struck out six. Austin Erickson, another tenth-grader, came on in the seventh inning and pitched a perfect frame to secure the win.
Sparks and Singer highlight a team full of young players. In fact, there are only three seniors on the roster. The first three batters in the lineup for Aurora are Sparks, sophomore Matthew Miller and the freshman Singer in the three-hole. Singer went 3-3 with three runs batted in.
“The kid’s got composure like nobody else,” Hoffman said referring to Singer. “He goes to the plate in tough situations, and he’s got the biggest grin on his face because he’s prepared for this.”
There is reason to grin in Aurora. After winning the district title for the first time since 1998, the Houn’ Dawgs will make their very first appearance in the Class 4 Final Four. They’ll square off with the winner of Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) and MICDS in the semifinals.
“The bottom line is, these kids could care less about who’s on the other side of the field,” said Hoffman. “They’re going to do things the way we’ve taught them to do things. And if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. We’re going to go down doing the things that we’ve done well all year long.
“Our crowd was phenomenal, our dugout was phenomenal. It’s not just those nine or ten kids in the lineup. It’s every single person that’s attached to this community. I’m excited with where we’re going. I’m extremely excited.”
