Aiden Lauritzen overcame some uncharacteristic wildness on the mound to pitch the shutout. He allowed only three singles – an infield hit in the fourth, a bloop single in the sixth and a two-out base hit in the seventh. He struck out four and walked six.

“He was a little uncomfortable all day,” Kreke noted. “He just couldn’t get comfortable on that mound. Six walks is not like Aiden at all. He generally pounds the strike zone.

“But he stayed in the moment and never wavered,” Kreke added. “He continued to work both sides of the plate. He has a nice slider and curve and enough velocity on his fastball to keep hitters honest. He only allowed three hits. It was a phenomenal game by Aiden.”

The sophomore righthander got all the support he needed in the opening inning.

Beau Adams and Lauritzen, the lead-off batters, both reached base after getting hit by consecutive pitches. With one out, Connor Roepke delivered a base hit to right to drove home Adams and send courtesy runner Ryan Schmidt to third base.

Brady Hatton’s ground out brought home the second run and Sam Link capped the three-run frame with a booming triple to center field that brought in Roepke.

The Bulldogs added a single tally in the second. Henry Brent led off with a base hit, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Max Koenig. Lauritzen then helped himself by ripping an RBI single up the middle with two outs.

It stayed 4-0 until the seventh. Roepke narrowly missed a home run, but it hit off the leftfield fence and he raced into third with a triple. Hatton followed with his third hit of the game to account for the final run.

“Our guys pride themselves in timely hitting,” Kreke said. “We have good hitters throughout our lineup; one through nine. For us, it’s always a total team effort.”

The next stop will now be Peoria.

“This is an exciting time,” Kreke admitted. “I’m super proud of these guys.”

This is Kreke’s fifth year at SAHS. His teams have compiled a 109-33 overall record. They have won three straight regionals and consecutive sectional titles. They now add a super sectional plaque to the school’s trophy case and will look to replicate what the 2012 team did – bring home a state championship.

“This is a testament to all the players that came before,” Kreke said. “They all helped us get to where we are now. Each of the teams continued to work hard and we’re reaping the benefits of that this year.

“This year’s team has a great work ethic and has been resilient,” the coach added. “They were mad when they left the field last year. They weren’t satisfied with just making the Elite 8. They wanted more. Now they get the opportunity to go to state and I couldn’t be happier for everybody involved.”

They will face a good Wilmington team. The Wildcats defeated Peoria Notre Dame 5-0 to win the Geneseo Super Sectional. Their only loss was an 8-5 setback to Joliet West in the third game of the season. They are riding a 25-game winning streak.

“Wilmington has a solid team,” Kreke said. “We know they will be a tough battle. But I like our chances.”