O'FALLON, Mo. - The Class 3 state championship game was decided by a matter of inches, a split-second.
On a bang-bang play, Blair Oaks' Jacob Stegemann legged out an infield single ahead of the throw from Fatima shortstop Dawson Peters, scoring Ian Nolph from third base with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.
That turned out to be the game's only run. Blair Oaks won its third state championship Tuesday, edging Fatima 1-0 in the Class 3 state championship game at CarShield Field.
"I'm real proud of the guys," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "We played well. It didn't always go our way today, but we just kept fighting and were competitive. We did what he had to do to win."
It's the third state championship in program history for Blair Oaks, which was also making its third Final Four appearance. The Falcons won Class 2 state titles in 2006 and '07.
"We're just happy to bring this state title back to Wardsville," DeMilia said.
Blair Oaks (23-11), ranked No. 9 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association, finished the season on a 13-game winning streak. Fatima (15-15) came up just short of winning its fourth state title.
"Anybody that paid to get in here didn't get cheated today," Fatima coach Brian Bax said. "That's as good of a ballgame as you can get.
"I'm proud of both teams. I've got a lot of respect for Blair Oaks and their players, and I can't say enough about our guys and how far we've come."
Baserunning proved to be critical in the game for the Falcons.
In the top of the second inning, Lane Libbert hit a two-out single to center field. Nolph rounded third and was waved home by DeMilia, but Fatima center fielder Austin Wegman threw home to catcher Gage Bax, who had plenty of time to apply the tag on Nolph to end the threat.
"Early in the game, that's the way I want to do things," DeMilia said. "I want to put the pressure on the defense. I knew it was going to be tight if he made a good throw, and right when it left his hand, I knew we were in trouble."
Nolph found himself in another baserunning quandary in the fourth. The Blair Oaks sophomore hit a ball into the left-center field gap, making it to second base easily.
DeMilia held up his hands, signaling for Nolph to stop at second. But Nolph never slowed down, sliding head-first into third for a triple ahead of the throw to third baseman Jake Boyce.
"I put the stop sign up, and it's a suggestion," DeMilia said. "I tell the guys when the play's in front of them, it's their read. If they don't know what to do, they pick me up.
"But Ian never looked over, and I was fine with that. He saw what was going on, he knew his speed and he knew he could get there."
Two pitches later, Stegemann hit a ground ball deep into the hole between shortstop and third. Peters fielded the ball and threw to first baseman Jaden Hoskins, but Stegemann was called safe on the close play, allowing Nolph to score.
"That was definitely the hardest I've ever run," Stegemann said. "I knew what I had to do: run hard and beat it out."
Aside from that run, the game was a pitchers' duel between Blair Oaks' Parker Bax and Fatima's Josef Keilholz. But they went about it in different ways.
While Keilholz didn't escape the jam in the fourth, he crafted one successful escape plan after another in all the other innings.
"He had really good stuff," DeMilia said of Keilholz, who pitched 6 innings before reaching his pitch-count limit of 105. "We were able to get his pitch count up high enough where he couldn't finish, but Josef battled his rear end off."
Keilholz stranded runners on second and third to end the top of the fifth. Then, in the sixth, Blair Oaks again had runners on second and third, but this time with no outs.
With the infield drawn in, Keilholz got back-to-back groundouts to Peters at short, then got an infield pop-up to finish his escape. Blair Oaks left 11 runners on base, eight in scoring position.
"We couldn't get that big hit," DeMilia said. "It's something we've done in the postseason very well, we've been able to get those big hits. We hit OK, but we just couldn't quite get that big hit every time."
Parker Bax, on the other hand, only had to get out of trouble twice following a rocky first inning, when he left runners on second and third.
He got Fatima to leave two runners on base again in the fifth, then threw just eight pitches - all strikes - in the sixth.
"He did not live in the middle of the zone much today," Brian Bax said.
In the bottom of the seventh, Trey Herzing was hit by a pitch with one out, bringing the winning run to the plate. Dean Hagenhoff singled to left field and Wyatt Luebbert reached on a fielder's choice, advancing Herzing to third base and putting the tying run 90 feet from home plate.
Cade Stockman, who recorded the save in Monday's semifinal win against Montgomery County, was warming up in the bullpen for Blair Oaks. DeMilia made a mound visit and decided to stick with his senior pitcher, who was one out away from finishing off a state title.
"There was never a doubt in my mind we were going to stick with Parker," DeMilia said. "... To me, that was Parker's game to win or lose."
Three pitches later, Hoskins hit a flyball to shallow left-center field. Blair Oaks left fielder Kamron Morriss drifted under the ball and made the catch, then proudly held up the ball with his right hand as he ran toward the mound to join the celebration dogpile.
"I don't think it's quite sunk in yet," said DeMilia, who guided Blair Oaks to a state championship in his second season as head coach. "I knew we could do it. It was just a matter of us putting it all together."
Keilholz scattered eight hits and struck out six while walking three. Gage Bax relieved him in the seventh, retiring both batters he faced.
Parker Bax needed 89 pitches to get through seven innings, giving up just five hits - all singles - without a walk while striking out seven.
Stegemann and Hagenhoff had the only multi-hit games, each finishing with two singles.
After the game, Brian Bax had a simple message for his Comets.
"I was telling our guys this isn't a sad bus ride home," the first-year Fatima head coach said. "This is a celebration. We've got three seniors leaving to go play college ball, and it's all about being around them since this is their last ride. We're going to have fun on the way home and get ready for next year."
For DeMilia, there is no rest. He begins his third season as head coach of the MINK League's Jefferson City Renegades today with the team's first practice before the season starts Friday.
"I'm excited for it, but there's a part of me that wants a day off," DeMilia said. "We'll get back to it."