“We’ve struggled in this game in prior years, and I feel like we played really well today, and it was super fun,” Meyer said. “I feel like everyone played really well, too, and we finally got the jitters out and everything.”

The Rebels were strong on both sides of the plate to ultimately come away with the win. They finished with 10 hits to YME’s two, with seven of their runs coming off RBIs.

Schneider pitched a majority of the night for MCC for six innings. Although struggling at times and finishing with five hit batters, he was able to work out of a few jams and tossed nine strikeouts while allowing two walks. Meyer relieved the final inning, where he retired three straight batters without a hit or walk.

“It [our defense] was great. You know, Krew likes to hit some guys sometimes, but it was impressive seeing him work out of those,” Meyer joked. “We didn’t give up a run and that was nice to see. Overall, defensively, we played really well.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray Country Central's Teague Meyer leads off of first base against Yellow Medicine East in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

YME’s Gunnar Fagen also had a good performance on the mound, tossing five strikeouts in his five innings, allowing five walks.

“We keep an eye on them [MCC]. They are a good team, up and down,” YME head coach Nick Richter said. “They are tough, and they are as well-advertised, and just a good-looking team. We knew we had our work cut out for us, leaving the bases loaded twice with no outs. We got to find a way to get a run or something there … They gave us some chances, and we didn’t take advantage of them. They just got us.”

Entering the sixth inning with a 4-0 lead with YME still in reach, MCC tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the sixth to build its advantage up to eight runs, to ultimately become the final score.

“I would say our pitching and defense [is our strength]. It wasn’t always pretty tonight, but we got out of it,” MCC head coach Paul Counter said. “Our pitchers trust what the guys do behind them, and then it seems like if we can get a few runs early and take that lead, we just feel a little more comfortable.”

Showing up big offensively once again, Meyer got on base with a hit and aggressively ran the bases to steal both second and third on the same play to get into scoring position.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Krew Schneider throws a pitch against Yellow Medicine East in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Tristan Behrends stepped up and hit an RBI single on a line drive to center field to run in Meyer, and kept up the same pace with stealing both second and third on the same play shortly after.

Behrends scored on a Dugan Kluis hit to deep right field, while Schneider proceeded with the same offensive energy and connected for a deep line-drive double to center field to run in Noah Frisk, who was courtesy running for Kluis.

Levi Kopperud also courtesy ran for Schneider, and accounted for the final run of the inning with the help of an RBI single from Cayden Veldhuisen.

“I thought we were seeing the ball pretty well. He’s [Fagen] a good pitcher, and I thought we hit him pretty well at times,” Meyer said. “I think it’s mainly the approach — We had good approaches tonight, and I thought that was good for us.”

“[Fagen], he’s big for us, there is no doubt about it,” Richter added. “He pitched the signs, we just didn’t get any runs. We are still alive, we are still going to battle and still going to compete, and hopefully we can see these guys [MCC] again.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Carson Lewis safely steals second base against Yellow Medicine East in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

YME catcher Caysen Lien helped the Sting get the final out to halt the Rebels’ rally, with a successful throw down to second base for a tag-out.

Meyer also stepped to the mound for the save in the final inning, tossing three straight strikeouts while allowing no hits or walks to end the game. MCC gave Meyer a water shower after the game to credit his performance.

“I feel like we are super confident. Years prior, this is the game we never got past, and to finally do it this year, I feel like we are even more confident,” Meyer said. “We just want to keep rolling one win at a time.”

MCC initially got on base with three runs in the second inning through the game’s competitive start, highlighted by Meyer’s two-run RBI single on a ground ball to center field to run in both Danny Larson and Carson Lewis.

Lewis had a leadoff single, while Larson followed with a base hit of his own.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Gunnar Fagen throws a pitch against Murray County Central in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Carter Hanson scored shortly after on a passed ball, who was initially walked.

As it has throughout the season, MCC’s defense showed up in big moments to help hold off the Sting. Particularly, YME got bases loaded in the top of the fourth following three hit-by-pitches from Schneider.

But, Schneider responded with a pair of strikeouts while YME was called for a batter interference to put the Rebels back at the plate.

“Super proud of Krew. You know, he got himself into trouble, but when it mattered most, he just beared down and got us out of some big jams, and that’s what you expect out of one of your studs,” Counter said. “It was just nice that we finally strung four or five hits and put the lead from 4-0 to 8-0.”

YME and MCC also met in last year’s section quarterfinals, where the Sting came away with a 7-5 win and went on to become section runners-up to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central third baseman Cayden Veldhuisen drops back to attempt to catch a foul ball against Yellow Medicine East in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

The Rebels, who also had the top-seed last season, were then eliminated after then falling short to Minneota 9-8 in the elimination bracket, as MCC is on a mission to avenge its early-exit this year.

MCC opened up this postseason with an 11-1 win over No. 4 Minneota in the second round, as the Rebels received a first-round bye after a dominant 17-1 regular-season run.

Kluis also had a grand slam in the win over the Vikings.

“YME has great baseball, and they have for years,” Counter said. “They’ve played well lately, and we knew we were going to see their ace in Gunnar Fagan, and I thought he pitched a great game … It’s good to get a shutout.”

The Sting have also opened the playoffs with momentum, taking down No. 6 Central Minnesota Christian 12-0 in the first round then No. 2 Lac qui Parle Valley 8-1 in the second.

In the win over LQPV, Drew Monson showed up big with two home runs while driving in six runs.

MCC (19-1) will next take on Dawson-Boyd (15-5), the top seed from the North subsection, in Saturday’s semifinals at 12 p.m. back at the Irish Yard. The winner will advance to the section championship, while the other will drop to the elimination bracket to fight for the other spot.

“Hopefully now, we’ve been here, we’ve done it, so hopefully [we keep it going]. I thought maybe some of our guys had some nerves, which we expect, but hopefully maybe we can just relax now, and come and be ready to play the baseball that we have all year,” Counter said.

YME (10-12) will look to keep its season alive when it faces Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (17-6) in the elimination quarterfinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Yankee Field in Milroy.

BOX SCORE

MCC BATTING

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

MCC PITCHING

K. Schneider: 6 IP, 9 SO, 2 BB, 2H; T. Meyer: 1 IP, 3 SO.

YME BATTING

D. Monson: 0-2, BB; G. Fagen: 0-2, BB; L. Wohlman: 1-3; C. Almich: 1-2.

YME PITCHING

G. Fagen: 5 IP, 5 SO, 5H, 3ER, 5BB; L. Anderson: IP, SO, 5 H, 4 ER.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Hayden Kuehn lays down a bunt against Murray County Central in the Section 3A quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy.