The St. Elizabeth Hornets have climbed the Class 1 baseball postseason ladder.
Two years ago, the Hornets lost in the sectional round of the state playoffs. Last year, they advanced to the quarterfinals before falling. St. Elizabeth took the next step this season, advancing to the Final Four, which begins today at CarShield Field in O'Fallon.
"We finally made it to state," St. Elizabeth senior Dakota Kemna said after last week's quarterfinal 12-2 win in five innings against Silex.
St. Elizabeth (15-5) will face Walnut Grove (22-1) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m.
"These last three years, we thought we had a shot at it and to finally get there, we're going to enjoy it," St. Elizabeth coach Caleb Heckemeyer said. "We wanted it so bad. We were so close the past few years, it feels so great."
The Hornets have rebounded from a 1-3 start to the season.
"It was a rough start, but we got things clicking with the whole team and I couldn't ask for anything more as a senior," Kemna said.
Heckemeyer, who played on the Hornets' last Final Four team in 2011, said the slow start forced the team to focus. It worked as the Hornets have won 14 of their last 16 games.
"We came together and the boys bought into working hard every day," he said.
The Hornets plated nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the quarterfinal victory.
"That's been our season, getting one good inning like that," Heckemeyer said.
The Hornets are hitting .340 as a team. Mason Kemna, a senior outfielder, leads the team with 34 hits in 50 at-bats for a .567 average. He shares the team lead with sophomore catcher Coltin Green with 16 RBI.
Dakota Kemna leads with four wins on the mound, while junior Aaron Blomberg has three to go along with a 1.25 ERA.
Walnut Grove, ranked No. 10 in the Class 1 preseason by the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association, climbed to the No. 1 spot in the final regular-season poll. St. Elizabeth, ranked No. 5 in the preseason, did not receive votes in the final poll.
This is Walnut Grove's first trip to the baseball Final Four, but the school has had recent postseason success in boys basketball. The Tigers have advanced to the Final Four the last three seasons, winning the Class 1 title in 2017 and finishing second in 2016 and this year.
The Tigers advanced to the semifinals with a 5-0 quarterfinal victory against Greenfield last week. Walnut Grove senior Logan Thomazin, a first-team all-state selection in 2017 who has signed with Missouri State, struck out the side in five of the seven innings on his way to a 19-strikeout performance.
Thomazin has a 0.63 ERA in just under 45 innings this season, compiling a record of 7-1. He is averaging two strikeouts per inning.
The Tigers are hitting .317 as a team. Thomazin, who plays shortstop when he's not pitching, leads at .590 with seven home runs and 31 RBI.
Walnut Grove's lone loss was a 4-2 decision to Skyline on April 21 in the Wheatland Tournment. Skyline finished fourth in the Class 2 state tournament that wrapped up Tuesday.
The other semifinal will pit third-ranked Oran (16-9) and No. 6 Green City (14-2) at 4 p.m.
The third-place game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, with the title game to follow at 1:30 p.m.