Jefferson City and Lee's Summit last met on April Fool's Day, with the Jays easily getting by the Tigers 11-1 in six innings.
The Tigers have lost seven games since, including a 7-5 defeat against Lee's Summit West in the regular season finale. They've fooled everybody, winning five straight to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2005.
"We're not going to underestimate anybody," Jays third baseman Kade Franks said. "Even though we beat Lee's Summit pretty easily earlier in the year, they are still a great team because they've made it this far."
Jefferson City (29-2) and Lee's Summit (23-9) will face each other at 6:30 p.m. today at CarShield Field in O'Fallon for a chance to play for a Class 5 state championship.
The Jays collected nine hits and took advantage of seven Tiger errors that afternoon back in April.
"They were good, they made some mistakes and we played extremely well that day," Jays coach Brian Ash said. " We know they are going to play better."
Jefferson City enters the game on a 19-game winning streak, last losing April 8 against Helias in the championship game of the Capital City Invitational.
The No. 1-ranked Jays, making their second straight trip to the Final Four, went into last year's semifinals in similar fashion as this year's Lee's Summit team. Jefferson City had its ups and downs during the 23-6 regular season, but rode a six-game winning streak into O'Fallon.
This season, the Jays have been ranked No. 1 from wire-to-wire, only suffering two losses. Both defeats came in the first three weeks of the season. The Jays have kept rolling since.
"Last year we knew we were going to be good, but other people had no idea that we'd be that good," Franks said. "It's all about getting hot. A lot of times those teams that get hot at the end that nobody thought they were going to be good get the furthest."
Jefferson City hopes its long fuse keeps burning. The Jays already have the most wins in school history. If they can add wins No. 30 and 31, it'll capture their first state title since 1989.
"That's been our goal since we were little kids is to just win championships," Jays catcher Gaven Strobel said.
Strobel is one of seven senior starters for the Jays. Six of them started in last year's state championship game against Francis Howell, and if the lineup holds, five will be batting in the same spot in the order today.
Jacob Weirich, Grant Wood, Strobel and Franks take up the No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 spots in the order. Brandon Williams could be at No. 7 instead of 6 and Hayden Hirschvogel may stay in his No. 8 spot. Gunnar See is the addition to the lineup, and could bat sixth today.
"I think the biggest thing that stands out is they are a very selfless bunch of kids," Ash said. "From our best player to our ninth guy, there's no jealousy involved. Everyone pulls for one another and they are best friends on and off the field."
As juniors they took the runner-up spot in the state. With another offseason of work and dedication under their belts, there's only one thing left to check off the to-do list.
"I know our town wants it bad," Franks said. "A lot of people have doubted JC baseball throughout the years. We've just worked our (tails) off. Knowing that this could be the last state that our school gets before we split into two, it means a lot."
To have that shot, Jefferson City first needs to get past Lee's Summit.
The Jays plan to send Wood to the mound today with Weirich going Saturday.
"You've got to put yourself in the position you think is your best option to win the state title and we think with Grant going the first game will give us the best opportunity," Ash said.
But Ash still left the option open to swap Wood and Weirich, depending on how the first semifinal between Vianney (31-6) and Fort Zumwalt West (23-14) goes. Those teams will play at 4 p.m.
Wood is 10-0 with an ERA less than 2 while Weirich is 9-0 with a 0.64 ERA. Weirich also has five saves and would be available in the later innings if Wood starts today. Weirich would be limited to 30 pitches to be eligible to throw Saturday.
"Arm feels great," Weirich said. "We've got to take care of business (today) and if we do that I look forward to Saturday."
Some pitching options for Lee's Summit include Joe Vandenbos, Ben Lock and Dalen Blair.
Vandenbos allowed four unearned runs in three innings of relief against Jefferson City in April, but threw a complete-game two-hitter in last week's 1-0 quarterfinal win against sixth-ranked Platte County. Blair threw 3 2/3 innings in the 15-4 sectional win against Blue Springs South, while Lock threw a complete game in a 4-2 victory against Rockhurst in the district championship game.
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The Vianney Golden Griffins and the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars have played each other twice this season. The Jaguars won 4-2 on March 28 and the Golden Griffins came out on top 6-3 on April 8.
Vianney, ranked third in the final state poll, made its last Final Four appearance in 2014 when it placed fourth. Fort Zumwalt West, which is not ranked, is making its first Final Four appearance.
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For those making the trip to CarShield Field, the exit off Interstate 70 is 219. After making a left-hand turn, the field is about a mile and a half down TR Hughes Boulevard on the right side.