ST. ELIZABETH, Mo. - Dakota Kemna wasn't quite sure the ball was going to leave the park.
"It was a moon shot, but I had my hopes," the St. Elizabeth senior said.
Kemna's hopes turned into reality as his two-run home run capped a nine-run fifth inning Wednesday night for the Hornets as they bested the Silex Owls 12-2 in the Class 1 quarterfinals.
With the win, St. Elizabeth (15-5) advances to next week's Final Four at CarShield Field in O'Fallon. The Hornets will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Walnut Grove (21-1) and Greenfield (12-12) in a game pushed back to today due to weather.
It's St. Elizabeth's first trip to the baseball Final Four since 2011.
"Boy, that was exciting," St. Elizabeth coach Caleb Heckemeyer, who was a senior on that Final Four team, said. "In that at-bat, Dakota showed how much he wanted it."
Aaron Blomberg led off the fifth for the Hornets by lining a 3-2 pitch to right-center for a single. Kemna followed with a single to put runners at first and second before Coltin Green drilled a shot off the glove of the Silex shortstop to load the bases.
After a first-pitch strike, Mason Kemna waited on the ensuing offering and punched it to right for a two-run double. Ross Struemph then reached on an error by the shortstop as Green and Kemna scored to make it 7-2.
Dylan Wobbe reached on a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning before Brady Heckemeyer and Clayton Holtmeyer drew consecutive walks to load the bases.
Nolan Heckemeyer then took advantage of some indecision by the Silex first baseman, beating out a grounder for a single for an RBI. All three St. Elizabeth runners then advanced on a wild pitch, with Brady Heckemeyer scoring to make it 9-2.
"I couldn't dream of an inning like that," Dakota Kemna said. "The guys fought hard to the end, we noticed they were getting down and we kept pushing."
In his second at-bat in the inning, Blomberg hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Clayton Heckemeyer. Dakota Kemna then followed with his blast to left-center to end the game by run-rule.
Kemna admitted he took a peek at the ensuing celebration as he rounded the bases.
"I looked and everybody was just jumping up and down," he said.
In the third-base coaching box, Caleb Heckemeyer was among those celebrating.
"As soon as he hit it, I thought that it might go," he said. "When it cleared the fence, it was such an amazing feeling."
The Owls took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Brian Henke, the No. 8 batter, doubled to score Justin Havlik, who had walked.
The Hornets took the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Brady Heckemeyer had an RBI single, while Nolan Heckemeyer brought home a run on a bases-loaded walk. The other run scored on an error.
The Owls looked like they were going make the Hornets' lead disappear in the third. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Havlik then blooped a single to center to score one run, but Nolan Heckemeyer threw a strike to St. Elizabeth catcher Green, who tagged out the potential tying run at the plate.
"That was a heck of a throw," Caleb Heckemeyer said.
Trailing 3-2, Silex threatened again in the top of the fifth. The Owls had runners at second and third with two outs before the Hornets got out of the inning with a grounder to second.
Blomberg went the distance to get the win. He recorded five strikeouts in the first two innings, but his pitch count was just short of 40.
"Aaron wasn't locating too well, but when he settled in, it was a gem," Heckemeyer said. "Aaron started making pitches."
Blomberg finished with a five-hitter, walking three and striking out six.
Silex ends its season at 14-4.
St. Elizabeth will play in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The third-place game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, with the championship game to follow at 1:30 p.m.