Grand Island finished its season in fitting fashion.
Similar to what happened during the year as a whole, the final day saw the Islanders get off to a rough start then end things with a flourish.
The final result: a team that started the year 6-10 -- a team that was the eighth seed -- is the 2008 Class A State Tournament champions.
Grand Island fell to Millard West 7-5 in the first game, but then held off the Wildcats' late rally to claim its first state title with a 7-6 victory Friday at Haymarket Park.
It was the fourth one-run win by Grand Island (20-14) in the postseason.
"This is the way it should be," Islander coach Rick Kissack said. "To win a state title is not easy. (The team) has an unbelievable resume. People may talk about us getting to play on Saturday (when the other games were rained out), but if you look at the teams we beat, I think it validates our championship."
The Islanders appeared to be cruising to a championship celebration in the second game, but one final case of nail-biting drama awaited them.
Trailing 7-2 entering the bottom of the sixth, Millard West (31-8) rallied for four runs. Alex Miller's pinch-hit RBI single marked the end of the day for Islander starter Eric Schwieger, who gave up five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked four.
Reliever Dylan Meier walked No. 9 hitter Bryce Johnston on four pitches to load the bases before he was replaced by Kash Kalkowski. The Nebraska recruit had two complete-game wins in the state tournament and had thrown 219 pitches in the previous week.
Kalkowski walked Brandon Bass, allowing Millard West to close the gap to 7-4. Another run came after Jesse Vervelde's grounder was misplayed, and Steve Jensen sent Bryce Johnston home on a fielder's choice to suddenly make it a one-run game.
Kalkowski got Shaun Hoover to fly out to center fielder Luke Farrar, who made a running catch.
"Luke had one of the best defensive state tournament performances in history," Kissack said. "He ran down a couple of balls. He had three or four in the tournament that saved us."
G.I. went down in order in the top of the seventh, setting up Millard West's final chance to earn its first state title and avoid its fifth runner-up finish.
But a quick conversation with Kalkowski left Kissack confident.
"As a matter of fact, the only thing in the (middle of the) seventh I told Kash was that (the team will) miss him," Kissack said. "With a smile he shook my hand and said ’I'm going to win it for you.' I sat down and knew we'd be fine."
The team felt confident with the lead and Kalkowski on the mound.
"We just tried to play good defense," Farrar said. "We gave up four (runs) in the sixth and we knew we couldn't do it again."
In the seventh, Jon Schneider led off with a walk and advanced on a bunt. Brent Bass lined out to Meier at second base for the second out and Miller flied out to Farrar.
That led to Islander gloves flying in the air and a dogpile forming on the first-base side of the pitching mound.
"I just didn't want it to hit the ground," Farrar said of the final out. "I ran as fast as I could and I got there. I caught it and it was an adrenaline rush."
Third baseman Casey Griffin, who had three hits on the day along with several key defensive stops, said the possibility of being a state champion didn't really hit him until there were two outs in the seventh.
"It hasn't even really set in yet," Griffin said. "In districts we got those two games out of the way and gained confidence. We came together as a team."
Grand Island had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. With one out, Nathan Zook was hit by a pitch, Griffin singled and Brandon Tjaden walked to load the bases. Kirby Wells singled in two runs, and Pete Kropp's RBI fielder's choice tacked on another one.
Kalkowski scored as Millard West turned a double play to up the lead to 4-0 in the third.
After coasting through the first three innings without letting a Wildcat runner past first base, Schwieger started struggling in the fourth. He allowed four straight batters to get on, three on walks. The Wildcats converted that into two runs to move within 4-2.
Schwieger, a Wayne State recruit, was happy to get a second chance at Millard West. In the final week of the regular season, he only lasted 1 2/3 innings against the Wildcats and gave up seven runs on eight hits in an 8-0 loss.
That performance may have been a blessing in disguise in the final, which featured a rematch of the pitching match-up with Schwieger and Tyler Hinkle.
"It could have helped," Schwieger said of the early exit. "If they had seen more of me, they might have hit me better.
"I did well today coming off of three days rest."
Grand Island answered with three runs in the fifth. Zook had an RBI double to right to plate Farrar, and Griffin's shot past the shortstop into left field scored pinch runner Adam Brown and Zook. Zook, Kalkowski, Wells and Griffin each had two hits in the second game. The trio of runs pushed the lead to 7-2, where it stayed until Millard West's comeback began.
Millard West, which played four games in 24 hours with its season on the line, took the lead early in the first game en route to forcing the "if necessary" to lose the "if."
The Wildcats hit right from the start of the day. Brandon Bass led off with a single, Vervelde had a bunt single and Jensen added a blooper to right field to load the bases.
Hoover scored Bass with a sacrifice fly, but the Islanders escaped without further damage.
The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the top of the second. Danny Marcuzzo, who reached on an error, and Brett Bass scored on Brandon Bass' one-out single.
The Islanders' offense came alive for five runs with two outs in the bottom of the second.
Designated hitter Jimmy Reed, who had one previous at-bat in the state tournament, doubled to the wall in left-center to score Griffin and Dalton Ryba.
Kropp added a double to the wall in left to send Reed home and tie it 3-3. The hit would have been a home run on almost any high school field in the state.
Slade Bolles' sharp single to right allowed Kropp to score, and a pair of errors on a play sent Bolles around to put G.I. ahead 5-3.
"In the first game, we got our bats going," Kalkowski said.
Hoover's solo home run to lead off the top of the third sparked a four-run inning that put the Wildcats back on top 7-5. That marked the end of the game for Wells, the Islanders' starter who gave up seven runs -- six earned -- on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Reliever Nick Hines shut down Millard West the rest of the way, but the Islanders couldn't score any more against Mike Peterson, despite getting a runner on every inning after the first.
Grand Island's best chance came in the sixth after Zook doubled off the fence in right field to lead off. But he got caught in a rundown on Griffin's grounder to shortstop, and Griffin was also thrown out trying to advance to second on the play.
Marcuzzo made a long throw from third base to get Reed out to lead off the bottom of the seventh, Kropp flied out to center. After Bolles reached on an error, Schneider snagged Kalkowski's hit to left to force the second game.
Peterson finished with a six-hitter. He struck out two and walked one.
But by winning the second game, Grand Island made the first game nothing more than its last loss in an amazing season to remember.
"I never imagined we'd have a chance to win state the way we did," Kalkowski said. "You can call it a Cinderella Story, but we won."
Said Farrar: "Nobody gave us a chance or maybe just a few people (did). But we played so good. There was no pressure."
And how does a state championship team celebrate?
"We'll stop at a gas station," Kissack said. "No reason to change things now."
When you go 14-4 to close out the season and win a state title as a No. 8 seed, keeping things the same is a luxury you've earned.
First Game
Millard West 124 000 0-7 12 3
Grand Island 050 000 0-5 6 2
WP--Peterson (7-1). LP--Wells (5-3) 2B--GI, Reed, Kropp, Zook. 3B--MW, Bre. Bass. HR--MW, Hoover.
Championship
Grand Island (20-14) 031 030 0-7 10 1
Millard West (31-8) 00 206 0-6 6 2
WP--Schwieger (4-1). LP--Hinkle (4-2). Sv.--Kalkowski. 2B--GI, Zook, Kalkowski. MW, Marcuzzo, Schneider.
Nebraska High School State Baseball Tournaments
CLASS A
Game Saturday
At Sherman Field
Game 1: Grand Island 8, Omaha Creighton Prep 2
Games Monday
At Sherman Field
Game 2: Omaha Westside 3, Papillion-La Vista South 0
Game 3: Millard North 4, Lincoln Southeast 2
Game 4: Millard West 3, Lincoln North Star 2
Games Tuesday
At Sherman Field
Game 5: Omaha Creighton Prep 15, Papillion-La Vista South 5
Game 6: Lincoln North Star 9, Lincoln Southeast 8
At Haymarket Park
Game 7: Grand Island 2, Omaha Westside 1
Game 8: Millard North 1, Millard West 0
Games Wednesday
At Sherman Field
Game 9: Millard West 8, Omaha Creighton Prep 7
Game 10: Lincoln North Star 8, Omaha Westside 4
At Haymarket Park
Game 11: Grand Island 4, Millard North 3
Games Thursday
At Sherman Field
Game 12: Millard West 12, Lincoln North Star 2
Game 13: Millard West 10, Millard North 3
Games Friday
Game 14: Millard West 7, Grand Island 5
Game 15: Grand Island 7, Millard West 6
CLASS B
Games Monday
At Den Hartog Field
Game 1: Gretna 5, Omaha Roncalli 5
Game 2: Omaha Gross 11, Lincoln Pius X 1, 6 inn.
Game 3: Ralston 6, Omaha Skutt 3
Game 4: Elkhorn 13, Blair 9
Games Tuesday
At Den Hartog Field
Game 5: Lincoln Pius X 3, Omaha Roncalli 1
Game 6: Omaha Skutt 9, Blair 2
At Haymarket Park
Game 7: Omaha Gross 7, Gretna 6, 8 inn.
Game 8: Elkhorn 5, Ralston 3
Games Wednesday
At Den Hartog Field
Game 9: Lincoln Pius X 14, Ralston 8
Game 10: Omaha Skutt 3, Gretna 0
At Haymarket Park
Game 11: Elkhorn 2, Omaha Gross 1
Games Thursday
At Den Hartog
Game 12: Omaha Skutt 1, Lincoln Pius X 0
Game 13: Omaha Skutt 13, Omaha Gross 11
Games Saturday
At Haymarket Park
Game 14: Elkhorn (20-9) vs. Omaha Skutt (15-12), 10 a.m.
Game 15: If needed, second championship game, 20 minutes after Game 14.
