WESTPHALIA, Mo. - The Fatima Comets kept grinding Monday. Austin Troesser made sure that effort paid off.
Troesser tossed a five-hitter as Fatima scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 victory against the Houston Tigers in the Class 3 sectionals.
"I was really able to spot it and my curveball was working better than it has all year," Troesser said. "I was able to throw it for a strike most of the times I threw it."
Troesser struck out 11 and did not walk a batter in his first complete game of the season.
"He's one of the best, he's really come on the past month or so of the season," Fatima coach Brian Bax said. "He's dialed in. Whoever he faces, they're going to need to bring their 'A' game."
With the win, Fatima (13-14) will host Ava (18-5) in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Ava defeated Clever 1-0 in its sectional Monday.
"We've got a lot of nice home support from our fans and it will be great to have that again," Bax said.
Troesser, who said the game being so close helped keep him focused Monday, had command of several of his pitches for much of the game. He threw first-pitch strikes to 23 Houston batters.
"I was really able to spot it and my curveball was working better than it has all year," the junior right-hander said. "I was able to throw it for a strike most of the times I threw it."
Houston got its lone run in the top of the first. Connor Wilson hit a one-out single then advanced to second on a foul out to left. Cleanup hitter Sterling Jackson then singled to left to score Wilson.
"They have pretty good hitters throughout, the first through the fifth were really good," Troesser said.
Fatima had runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the inning before fielder's choice ended the threat.
The Comets tied the game in second. Trey Herzing drew a one-out walk before moving to third on a single by Dean Hagenhoff that turned out to be Fatima's lone hit of the game. After a wild pitch advanced Hagenhoff to second, Wyatt Luebbert drove home the run with a grounder to short.
Jaden Hoskins walked, then moved to second on a wild pitch to put runners at second and third before a groundout ended the threat as Fatima left two runners in scoring position for the second straight inning.
Troesser, who struck out five straight batters in a stretch starting with the final out of the third, got into some trouble in the fifth. A hit-batter and a single had runners at the corners with two outs before a fly out ended the inning.
The Comets again threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Josef Keilholz drew a one out walk and stroke second before Gage Bax was hit by a pitch. Austin Wegman laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third, but a strikeout got the Tigers out of the inning.
"Credit to Houston, that's a good ball team," Brian Bax said. "We weren't making that great of contact we needed to in those situations. Their pitchers deserve all the credit."
Troesser needed just four pitches to retire the Tigers in order in the top of the sixth.
Herzing led off the bottom of the inning with a walk - Fatima's sixth of the game - and stole second. Hagenhoff followed with a grounder up the middle that the shortstop snared, but his throw to first was low as Herzing came around to score to make it 2-1.
Troesser struck out the first two Tigers in the top of the seventh, then got a grounder to short to end it.
Fatima opened the season with four straight losses and was 3-8 after the Capital City Invitational in early April.
"Kind of, yeah, with the way the season started out," Troesser said when asked if he was surprised the Comets were among the final eight teams in Class 3. "But we've come a long way."
Bax thinks the Comets are now on everybody's radar.
"I don't think we're going to be able hide behind the record anymore," he said. "When you get to the quarterfinals, the final eight teams, nobody is going to take any chances."
Bax believes Fatima's schedule - which included games against the largest schools in Central Missouri - has them ready to face what comes down the road.
"We won't face a pitcher better than we've already faces from those teams," he said. "Our guys know we're not going to be in a situation we haven't already been in.
"We can manufacture runs against good pitching. If we can get some good pitching and play good defense, we can stay in a ballgame."
The Fatima-Ava winner advances to the Class 3 Final Four next week in O'Fallon.
"One more win would be awfully sweet," Bax said.