Congratulations, St. Paul juniors.
You've just qualified for the Class B American Legion Juniors State Tournament.
Now hit the road.
While it wasn't quite that drastic a situation for St. Paul, it was close. The team won its district championship Wednesday night in Central City.
Less than 48 hours later, it will be in Nebraska City taking on the host team at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the first round of the double-elimination state tournament.
While that quick turnaround may appear to be a less than ideal situation, St. Paul coach Mitch McCann doesn't feel it'll have an effect on his team.
"We've got our pitching lined up," he said. "We'll pitch Brandon Nyberg, and that's who we planned on pitching. We have a fairly deep pitching staff. We'll be fine as long has he does his job."
St. Paul (18-7) has displayed a resiliency that has played a big role in its success this year. It started 2-4 but turned things around and carried an 11-game win streak into Wednesday's title tilt.
Then after losing to Wayne 13-0 to be forced into a second game, St. Paul bounced back to earn the state title while not allowing an earned run in the winner-takes-all second match-up.
McCann was proud of how his team responded after getting blown out in the first game.
"Wayne was ready to play the first game and we were not," he said. "Wayne got all their runs with two outs. We couldn't find the strike zone.
"I credit the boys. It was like turning a light switch on in the second game. We were looking at the mountain top and not the road to get there. After the first game, the boys circled the wagons. They're really a team and care about each other."
McCann said the team got a nice assist from its fans.
"Our fans have been outstanding," he said. "I tell the boys not to worry about what's going on outside the fence. But our fans - to their credit - they helped us. It was special.
"Girls coming back from a volleyball camp stopped by and the senior boys stopped after their district game in Albion. Our support was outstanding."
McCann knows the team won't be able to have such large support in Nebraska City, but that shouldn't matter for a team that's used to being on the road. St. Paul is 13-5 on the road and 5-2 at home this year.
He said the team will focus on "what we call St. Paul ball.
"We value getting on base. It doesn't matter if it's by hitting the ball. We want to get on base and put the ball on play. We want to score runs, and we're not looking for home runs. We don't need to put the ball over the fence."
St. Paul is also experienced in close games. Of its 25 games, 13 have been decided by two runs or fewer.
"The boys are used to seeing close games," McCann said. "Early on we lost a few, but we made our minds up to not let that happen. (The close losses) were a blessing in disguise."
After coming up short in last year's district tournament in O'Neill, St. Paul was focused on earning the trip to state this time around.
"The older boys who are hosting (Class B seniors) state this year made it 2-3 times (as juniors)," McCann said. "These boys watched them do it. Even though we were the No. 3 seed (in districts), we thought we could do it."
And McCann feels his team has what it takes to make its final road trip an extended one.
"There's something about these boys and the team chemistry," he said. "They're living a special season. I think we might be down there for more than a couple days.”
