“It’s humbling, but well deserved. The guys deserve it, they have put in a lot of work,” MCC head coach Paul Counter said. “Teague pitched a heck of a ballgame today, and that’s what we expect out of him. But, I thought our catcher [Dugan Kluis] called a good game back there, and Teague just executed it. Very happy, and just one more win.”

Saturday was a battle of the section’s top-seeded teams. MCC received the No. 1 seed from the North bracket as did Dawson-Boyd from the South.

The last time MCC made the section championship was 24 years ago in 2002. Adding to the achievement, Saturday also marked the Rebels’ 20th win of the season.

“It feels good, we needed it. We just had to play our best,” MCC’s Krew Schneider said. “We had to take good at-bats, hit the ball hard, and play good defense. We only had two errors.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: The Murray County Central baseball team hi-fives one another after defeating Dawson-Boyd in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

The Rebels scored three of their runs in the third inning, following one in the second as the remainder of the game for both teams went scoreless.

“We knew how we played the first [game] at the beginning of the season with them [MCC], and we went nine innings. We knew it was gonna be a tough game. Both teams are good defensively,” Dawson-Boyd head coach Daren Swenson said. “The ball rolls a certain way, and the one inning they put up three didn’t help much of anything, but if you take that away, you’re still looking at a 1-0 game or 2-0 game going into the sixth or seventh inning.”

Kluis paired with Meyer the entire game behind the plate to call the pitches, while also working to keep the ball in front of him all seven innings.

“Teague did a hell of a job. Can’t ask much more out of him, he hit his spots and did what he needed to do,” Kluis said. “We made plays when we needed to. Carter [Hanson] was great in left [field], and it felt like every play that was made was for the game.”

Schneider hit an RBI line-drive double to deep left-center field to get MCC’s momentum started in the third to score Tristan Behrends for the first run of the inning.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Teague Meyer throws a pitch against Dawson-Boyd in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Behrends initially had a leadoff single with a hit to left field as well, and proceeded to steal second base.

“There is not a kid that walks up to the plate that I don’t think is going to hit the ball well,” Kluis said. “It’s nice, one through nine, knowing that everyone can hit the ball hard, play and get a run.”

The Rebels were then able to load the bases with Cayden Veldhuisen occupying first, Carson Lewis on second and Schneider on third. Dawson-Boyd committed a defensive error on a dropped infield fly ball from Lewis’ hit, as Veldhuisen was walked. The Blackjacks’ error allowed Lewis to reach second on the same play, which also put Schneider at third.

“Once you see those pitches and start to hit them, the whole team just keeps on going and the bats just seem to like each other,” Schneider said.

Schneider tagged third and charged home on a sacrifice fly from Danny Larson to score the next run, and Lewis accounted for the final run of the inning when Carter Hanson was hit by a pitch with bases loaded.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Dawson-Boyd's Aedyn Dahl connects for a hit against Murray County Central in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Dawson-Boyd third baseman Kameron Sather put a halt to the Rebels’ rally after fielding a ground ball near midway through the baseline between second and third, and raced to touch the bag first to force-out Gabe Tentinger.

MCC got its first run on the board in the second inning with Lewis scoring on an RBI single from Hanson, to which Dawson-Boyd slightly bobbled the ball when fielding to allow the Rebels enough time.

“Our nine-hitter, Carter Hanson, got us the lead. It was only one [1-0 lead], but it felt like an important one to get that first one,” Counter said. “We were able to get three more in the third off of a couple big hits from the middle of our lineup, and then nothing really happened after that. I guess if it had to be that, we were OK with it at that point in the game.”

The Rebels were able to get into scoring position a few other times throughout the game, but the Blackjacks’ defense also was able to continue holding off MCC the rest of the night following the few early miscues.

MCC had two runners on base in the fourth inning following a hit batter and a walk, but Bothun worked himself out of the jam and tossed a strikeout for the final out to prevent the Rebels’ from possibly deepening their lead.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central catcher Dugan Kluis recieves a pitch against Dawson-Boyd in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Dawson-Boyd was able to connect for a few strong hits throughout the game, but couldn’t quite get all the way around the diamond.

Both teams finished with three hits, while Dawson-Boyd had three errors to MCC’s two.

“The biggest thing is hitting against a good pitcher,” Swenson said about positives he saw from the Blackjacks. “We couldn’t get anybody past second base, but good hits against a good pitcher.”

Counter also credited Dawson-Boyd for their pitching staff and defensive performance.

MCC’s defense has been one the team’s biggest strengths the entire season. The Rebels also never let up to also not allow the Blackjacks’ many offensive opportunities to reach base or get into scoring position.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Dawson-Boyd's Nathan Hansen throws a pitch against Murray County Central in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

In the Blackjacks’ final plate appearance in the top of the seventh, Meyer finished his impressive performance on the mound following a Veldhuisen field play at third as Meyer retired two more batters to end the game.

Nathan Hansen got the start on the mound for the Blackjacks, and threw four strikeouts in his 2 2/3 innings pitched with two walks. Colten Bothun finished off the game, retiring four batters while allowing no hits or runs with three walks.

Aedyn Dahl went 2 for 3 at the plate to lead Dawson-Boyd’s offense, while three different batters collected a hit for MCC between Meyer, Behrends and Schneider.

Dawson-Boyd booked its spot in the semifinals after defeating No. 2 Adrian/Ellsworth 8-3 in the quarterfinals, while MCC did so with an 8-0 over No. 2 Yellow Medicine East. The Blackjacks are looking to get back to the championship game after their section-runner up finish in 2024.

The Blackjacks (15-6) will next play in the elimination-bracket final and will face the winner of No. 3 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (18-6) and No. 2 Adrian/Ellsworth on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Yankee Field in Milroy. The winner of that matchup will advance to the title game.

“The next game now, is we get to play the game of pitch count, and see what pitchers and what they throw,” Swenson said. “Two more days you have another game and got to get ready for Tuesday, and then you turn around and play again Thursday. That’s one thing you have to think about, is your pitch count … Hopefully we pull it off and are back on Thursday.”

The section championship is slated to take place on Thursday at the Irish Yard in Milroy at 5 p.m. where MCC (20-1) and the elimination-final winner will compete for a state tournament berth.

“It’s one game. It’s just one pitch at a time, and no matter who we get, we are going to have to hit. So, it will be fun,” Schneider said.

“We are just going to have to prep and play our best baseball, just like we have all year. Just do what we do,” Kluis added.

BOX SCORE

MCC BATTING

T. Meyer: 1-4; T. Behrends: 1-3, R, BB; K. Schneider: 1-4, R, RBI; C. Lewis: 0-2, 2R, 2BB; C. Veldhuisen: 0-1, BB; D. Larson: 0-1, RBI; C. Hanson: 0-1, RBI, BB.

MCC PITCHING

T. Meyer: 7 IP, 10 SO, 3H, 2BB.

DB BATTING

C. Bothun: 0-1, 2BB; A. Dahl: 2-3; A. Olson: 1-3.

DB PITCHING

N. Hansen: 2.2 IP, 4 SO, 3H, ER, 2BB; C. Bothun: 3.1 IP, 4 SO, 3BB.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Krew Schneider crosses home plate for a run against Dawson-Boyd in the Section 3A semifinals on Saturday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.