“I just wanted it. From the get-go, I wanted it. I think it was the first pitch. I just saw it, I felt it, and I thought it was gone,” Tentinger said of his game-winning hit. “I mean, we have worked for this really hard all season, and since last year. We have been working so hard. And, we are not finished either.”

Tentinger stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with Danny Larson on first, Cayden Veldhuisen on second and Carson Lewis on third. Lewis had a base hit, Veldhuisen was hit by a pitch at the top of his helmet and Larson walked.

With one out, Tentinger saw his perfect pitch coming his way and sent it off to the left-field fence, nearly being a grand slam, as the ball bounced just off the wall and Lewis scored the go-ahead run to end the game. Tentinger was immediately joined and tackled by his teammates in the infield to celebrate the walk-off.

“It actually didn’t even feel real, like nothing was happening,” Tentinger said. “I looked over [at the dugout] and I saw Tristan [Behrends] running at me, and I was like, ‘Why is he running at me, the game isn’t over yet, I have to touch all the bases,’ but, I forgot [at that point] that once someone touches home, it’s over.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Gabe Tentinger (center) is celebrated by the team after his game-winning hit that gave the Rebels a walk-off comeback victory against Ogilvie in the Class A state quarterfinals on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

Tentinger also had a home run in the Section 3A championship last Thursday, marking his second-straight outing with a game-defining hit.

As he was patiently watching his hit fly through the air on its way to the fence, Tentinger trotted to first base with both arms up in celebration as the MCC dugout began to sprint out once Lewis touched home, with the team supported by the large crowd of cheers.

“I don’t know exactly what I was thinking [at that moment], but he [Tentinger] did exactly what I was hoping for. Just so happy for Gabe,” MCC head coach Paul Counter said. “He’s had really good at-bats, and I thought he had a tough one on his first at-bat where he hit that deep fly to left [that was caught], but it’s just nice to see him come through.”

Tentinger was also celebrated after the game with a water bath from the coaching staff and his teammates.

To get into position for a potential walk-off, the Rebels had to battle through adversity for the majority of the game. MCC found itself facing an 8-4 deficit after the Lions rallied for a five-run fourth inning.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Gabe Tentinger (2) celebrates with the team after his game-winning hit that gave the Rebels a walk-off comeback victory against Ogilvie in the Class A state quarterfinals on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

“We’ve never been the team [this season] that has come back from behind. I mean, it was a struggle. You could see people were struggling, but we worked as a team,” Tentinger said. “We came back, and we fought. It felt great … It was amazing seeing everybody work together and not give up.”

Ogilvie initially took a three-run lead as well after scoring a trio of runs in the third inning. MCC had a quick response in scoring four runs to take the one-run edge, 4-3, in the bottom of the third, just before the Lions scored their five to take the lead back.

Despite giving up a few errors, the Rebels stayed in the fight and pulled within an 8-7 deficit in the bottom of the sixth with three runs.

Veldhuisen scored the first run off an RBI single from Carter Hanson, as Veldhuisen was initially walked and got into scoring position with a Larson fly-ball single and proceeded to steal third.

MCC got the bases loaded following Hanson and Larson’s hits, and Tristan Behrends was walked.

Photo by Samantha Davis: The Murray County Central baseball team smiles when walking off the field after its comeback victory against Ogilvie in the Class A state quarterfinals on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

Larson and Hanson accounted for the next two runs, scoring on a hit batter and wild pitch, respectively.

Not willing to go out without a fight, MCC was able to force the extra inning after Noah Frisk scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh with a successful bunt from Hanson. Frisk was courtesy running for Larson, who walked, and Frisk stole both second and third.

On the other end, the Rebels didn’t allow Ogilvie to take another lead on the night in the top of the eighth. MCC completed three quick outs between an outfield fly-ball catch, a force out at first and an infield line-drive catch from Behrends at shortstop to set up the moment for MCC on the offensive end.

“For a while there, nothing was really going our way, and I thought maybe we let our emotions get us a little bit,” Counter said. “Then, once we settled back down, we kept fighting back. We found a way to tie it, had a chance to win it, but then got it down to extra innings. But, just super proud of them, how they stayed together and fought back.”

Notably, MCC amped up its aggressiveness on the base paths and took a few risks that ultimately kept the Rebels in the game.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Gabe Tentinger (middle) smiles when walking off the field after the Rebels' walk-off comeback victory against Ogilvie in the Class A state quarterfinals on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

In the bottom of the third when the Rebels scored their four runs to briefly take the 4-3 lead, both Teague Meyer and Behrends impressively scored on the same play off a wild pitch. Meyer ran first and slid into home, while Behrends also snuck in after the Lions turned their back upon getting the ball back into possession.

“We talked about that [baserunning strategy] before the game. How we’ve been aggressive all year, and we want to play the same way,” Counter said. “It was sure nice to take that lead in the middle of the game, and then unfortunately gave it right back, but I guess that’s baseball.”

Krew Schneider pitched a complete game and worked through some mental hurdles as well after getting stuck in a few jams or when Ogilvie was able to rack up a few consecutive hits.

Schneider finished with eight strikeouts, allowing three walks and seven earned runs.

“We didn’t make all the plays behind him [Schneider], and there’s just a little more stress on him … But, it’s nice to still get the win, and for him to throw a complete game to save the rest of our pitching staff,” Counter said. “Maybe not his best [performance], but definitely good enough.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: The Murray County Central baseball team celebrates its walk-off victory against Ogilvie in the Class A state quarterfinals on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

Both teams finished with eight hits and four errors.

A day to remember

The walk-off victory to open the state tournament was the cherry on top for the Rebels on Thursday.

The team started their day with a large send-off celebration with the Slayton community, where it spent the morning signing autographs and taking pictures before being led out of town with an escort from first responders and law enforcement.

There was plenty of purple and black in the St. Cloud bleachers as the MCC community traveled well to watch their players make history.

“This is what you dream of. I told the guys that many times this week, to just enjoy every minute. The things that happen, and the day or two that we are up here, you’ll remember for the rest of your life,” Counter said. “Our community is second to none. All the support and the messages, and we involved the youth this morning, the baseball kids, and yeah, it was just a really cool day for MCC baseball.”

This year marks just the second time in program history MCC is competing in the state tournament, and the first time in 25 years. The last time the Rebels made it was in 2001. Slayton High School made it to state in 1992.

MCC won the Section 3A championship to earn its state-tournament berth, and controlled the tournament the entire way through. The Rebels only allowed a single run the entire tournament, and never fell to the elimination bracket. They defeated Minneota 11-1, Yellow Medicine East 8-0, Dawson-Boyd 4-0 and took down Adrian/Ellsworth 7-0 for the section title.

Next up

Murray County Central now moves to 22-1 overall on the season. The Rebels now advance to the Class A semifinals and will take on top-seeded Madelia Friday back at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. First pitch is slated for 1:30 p.m.

The winner of the matchup will advance to the state championship, which will be played at Target Field in Minneapolis on Monday at 10 a.m. The loser will still compete for hardware and will play in the third-place match directly after Friday’s game.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

T. Meyer: 1-4, R, BB; T. Behrends: 1-4, R, BB; D. Kluis: 1-4, RBI; K. Schneider: 0-2, 3 BB; C. Lewis: 1-5, 2 R, C. Veldhuisen: 1-3, R, RBI, BB; D. Larson: 1-2, R, 2 BB; N. Frisk: 2 R; G. Tentinger: 1-4, RBI, BB; C. Hanson: 1-4, R, 2 RBI.

PITCHING

K. Schneider: 7 IP, 8 SO, 3 BB, 7 ER, 8 H.