NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - With a slip of his tongue, Brady Wiler coined a motto for the New Bloomfield baseball team.
In trying to tell his teammates to focus on the task at hand, the senior couldn't quite get the phrasing down.
Hence, "one time at a time" was born.
"It was supposed to be one (game) at a time, but I ain't the brightest," Wiler said before the Wildcats' practice Monday afternoon at the high school.
Oddly enough, Wiler's words were spot on.
Wiler unknowingly crafted a rallying cry and Twitter hashtag - #1timeatatime - that's lifted New Bloomfield out of an early-season funk and into position to add to its already rich baseball tradition.
The Wildcats (16-9) - chasing a state-record eighth title and first since 2011 - start with the Norwood Pirates (19-8) in today's Class 2 semifinal at 7 p.m. at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon.
Top-ranked Valle Catholic (28-5) will play West Platte (19-5) at 4:30 p.m. in the first semifinal. The Class 2 championship is set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, with the third-place game scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
First-year head coach Justin Forsythe directs New Bloomfield, which will be making its 12th all-time appearance in the state semifinals. He recalled this week his interview for the job with the Wildcats, where he was asked if he was prepared for the task. His response didn't lack confidence.
"It's either going to be here or it's going to be somewhere else, but I promise I'm going to win," Forsythe recounted. "I'm confident in my coaching ability and feel like I can adjust to any player that I get, so I knew I'd be successful, I just don't know when."
However, after six straight losses to begin the season, it didn't look like it'd be here or now for Forsythe and New Bloomfield.
The slump had senior center fielder Tucker Lane and senior first baseman Boyd Kempker doubting things.
"I thought there was no chance we'd be here (in the final four)," Lane said.
Added Kempker: "The 0-6 start really scared me too, because I didn't know if we'd get out of it."
Despite a successful fall season, the Wildcats struggled to find their footing when spring began. Forsythe attributed some of the futility to overconfidence.
"Kids were overlooking things," Forsythe said. "Our first game we played Fulton and we had kids talking about playing Blair Oaks, and we hadn't even played Fulton yet."
None of the Wildcats' first six setbacks were blowouts, with the exception of a 10-0 Show-Me Conference loss at eventual Class 3 state champion Fatima. The team was competitive, but defeated nonetheless.
Forsythe began to doubt his own abilities and sought advice from outsiders. The Farmington native concluded his methods worked; but his way of conveying them didn't.
"The way I was communicating at the beginning of the year wasn't working," Forsythe said. "They weren't understanding it and how to adjust to it, and how to make that adjustment, whether it was in the field or at the plate.
"It wasn't clicking for them."
New Bloomfield players took ownership of their slump. Senior left fielder Sam Niedergerke noted he and his teammates hesitated to completely buy in to their coach's defense-first mentality. Stalled and winless, they had no choice but to adapt.
"I think after we went 0-6, we all decided to buy in and listen to what he was saying," Niedergerke said. "Before that, I don't think we wanted to listen; I think we wanted to do it on our own and obviously that wasn't working."
Two days after falling to state-ranked Linn 2-0, the Wildcats snapped their skid with a 10-7 triumph April 13 at Belle.
"I think we forgot what winning felt like, and once we got a taste of it, we wanted more," Kempker said.
There's been a lot of that since then.
The victory against Belle kicked off New Bloomfield's current spurt of 16 wins in 19 games.
"We were a team that, in the fall, didn't make adjustments "til after the game when we talked about it," Forsythe said. "As the year's gone on ... we've made adjustments on the fly, whether it's on a defensive error where we pick our kid up and they come back and get a double play, or if it's at the plate."
In their five-game playoff run, the Wildcats' bats and arms are rolling along.
New Bloomfield - batting. 361 for the season - has hit at a .388 clip since the start of district play and is scoring eight runs per contest.
"When you have people up to bat with people on base, you never want to leave them out there," Wiler said. "... It feels like you have more on your shoulders (with men on base), and a lot of us are better hitters when we feel like we have more to do."
Kempker's .468 average paces the Wildcats, followed by junior catcher Derek Shikles (.417), Niedergerke (.416) and Wiler (.405).
Junior Tyler Fennewald has a team-high 23 runs batted in and carries a team-low 2.33 earned-run average to go with his 4-1 record on the mound as part of New Bloomfield's starting triumvirate.
Junior Clay Jensen (4-4) - the Wildcats' best overall pitcher according to Forsythe - leads New Bloomfield in innings pitched (50) and strikeouts (43), and carries a 4.62 ERA.
Wiler boasts a 4-2 record with a 2.98 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 40 innings.
Norwood enters the semifinals hitting .304 as a team and is led by junior Joel Ogletree. The Pirates' first baseman is hitting .500 with seven home runs and 37 RBI, while junior shortstop Weston Chadwell is batting .485 with 19 RBI.
Senior pitcher Dalton Rein has an 8-2 record, a 2.09 ERA and 40 strikeouts, while fellow senior Kyler Hyde is 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA. Ogletree is 2-3 on the year with a team-high 44 strikeouts and a 5.67 ERA.
Wiler said it will take something special to raise the Wildcats' eighth state championship plaque.
"It's not about who wants it," Wiler said. "It's about who wants it enough."