LINN - At this point in the season, the only thing that matters is advancing.
The Linn Wildcats moved on in the Class 3 state baseball tournament Tuesday, beating Forsyth 10-4 behind a combined no-hitter from seniors Andy Hueste, Austin McKim and Kaleb Brandt.
Linn (14-9) will face either Strafford at home or Skyline on the road Thursday in the state quarterfinals. That quarterfinal game got rained out Tuesday and moved to today.
"Andy pitched a phenomenal game," Wildcats head coach Briar Hancock said. "I know this is big for those seniors, those five seniors, so it's a good night for us."
Hueste, who also drew three walks and scored three runs at the plate, struck out nine batters in six innings of work. A light but steady rain that fell for most of the game did not seem to give him any trouble, as he worked fastballs, offspeed and breaking pitches to good effect.
He walked the leadoff batter to start the third inning but got him after a sacrifice bunt moved the runner up, on a smooth 1-6 pickoff move, then got out of the inning with a backwards punchout.
"I know we had to change baseballs here and there, and actually slowing him down," Hancock said. "Games past, that hasn't seemed to work out very well for him, he's a tempo guy, he wants to go quick, so tonight was new for him and he adjusted to it."
Six of Hueste's strikeouts were looking, and two of the swinging strikeouts resulted in dropped third strikes to put a runner on. His walk in the third inning was the first runner for either team, as Forsyth's Tristan Hunter looked just as good the first time through the order.
But in the top of the fourth, Caden Robinson singled to left and Hueste walked. Robinson was thrown out at third as Aidan Kline tried to sacrifice to advance both runners, but the throw from third to first for a double play was off, allowing Hueste to get to third. Austin McKim singled to right, the first of three RBI on the day, with Kline going to third on the throw and eventually scoring on a wild pitch to give Linn a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers came right back and tied the game as Linn's defense made mistakes on otherwise routine outs.
"I took them out (on the field) before we went back out, I said, 'Guys, we've been in a deficit before. This is just 0-0,'" Hancock said. "These guys are just resilient. They battle, doesn't matter how much they're down; if we're up, we're going to finish a game strong. And that's why I'm proud of every single one of these guys."
After two quick outs in the fifth, Matt Nenninger was hit by a pitch, then Robinson smashed a triple into the right field corner to immediately give the Wildcats the lead back. Hueste walked and stole second, then Robinson scored and Hueste went to third on a bad pickoff attempt, and Hueste came home on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
"That was huge for us," Hancock said. "We're a big momentum team."
Linn went in order in the sixth, then with one out in the seventh the Wildcats strung together six straight good at-bats. Robinson and Hueste walked, Kline drove in a run with a single, McKim hit a 2-run single and Brandt hit a single, as each continued to pass the bat and take second base when the throw from the outfield went to the plate. Keagan Heywood hit an RBI groundout to conclude the offensive outburst, which made it 10-2.
With Hueste at 103 pitches through six innings, Hancock said he went to the bullpen so as not to worry about a reliever coming in cold mid-inning. McKim shed his catcher's gear, issued a walk and then struck out the next two hitters, but the second reached on another dropped third strike, which also scored a run for Forsyth.
After a walk and an infield error, Brandt entered and McKim returned to catcher. Brandt struck out the first hitter he faced, then McKim and Hueste combined for the final out of the game, throwing out a runner on a double steal at the plate, 2-6-2.
Hancock said after the group of five seniors did not get a season last spring, the message has been "Why not this year?"
"Today's game was a statement for our community, for our players, even our coaches, how we play and how we want to play, and finish this season out strong," Hancock said. "Couldn't be more proud of the guys, couldn't be more proud of the assistant coaches and all the fans that came out tonight. It was great support."