It was a long day at the ball park. Rain was basically forecast throughout, but for the first three games of the day, there was everything from a light mist to even a little bit of sunshine that brought some muggy temperatures along with it. But about 30 minutes before the 2A championship was to begin, that all changed.

The skies opened and the rains came pouring down, leaving a soggy and soaked field at Dozer Park in Peoria. There was no choice but to delay the start.

As a result, a first pitch that was initially scheduled for 7 p.m., was thrown at 10:08.

But that had no effect on the excitement level in the stands. Fans from both schools were clearly excited and never let the weather or the delay dampen their spirits.

As was the case in Friday’s semifinal game against Wilmington, this St. Anthony squad was considered by many to be the underdogs against Maroa-Forsyth.

But, again, the Bulldogs – and their potent lineup – proved those doubters wrong.

After retiring the Trojans in the opening inning, SAHS went to work immediately. On the second pitch, Adams grounded a single between the third baseman and the third base bag. Aiden Lauritzen laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, sending Adams to second base.

On the very next pitch, Brock Fearday sent a liner into left-centerfield for a double. On just four pitches, the Bulldogs had a lead – a lead that ultimately was challenge, but one they never relinquished.

Before the inning was over, Brady Hatton sent a pitch over the centerfielder’s head for an RBI double, staking St. Anthony to an early 2-0 advantage.

“Our bats have been hot ever since we came to Peoria,” Kreke said. “But that’s who we are. The guys go up ready and wanting to hit.”

In the second inning, the Bulldogs threatened to make it a second straight rout, after disposing of Wilmington 12-1 in just six innings the day before.

Will Fearday led off the second with a base hit. He was still at first base with two outs when those bats came alive again, peppering hits all over Dozer Park. Adams collected his second of three hits in the game and Lauritzen then hit a ground ball up the middle that glanced off a diving second baseman’s glove for an RBI single.

Brock Fearday followed by looping a base hit to center, bringing home another run. After Connor Roepke was hit by a pitch, Hatton delivered the biggest swing of the game. The junior ripped a pitch down the leftfield line and into the corner, clearing the bases with a three-run double that increased the SAHS lead to 7-0.

But Maroa-Forsyth, a team with eight starters hitting .317 or better – and three with averages of .431, .456 and .461 – was not about to quit. The Trojans scored a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings. And with Adams adding an RBI single for St. Anthony in the bottom of the third, the score was 8-4 heading to the fifth.

Lauritzen, St. Anthony’s starting pitcher, struggled with his control throughout. He walked six batters in his 5.2 innings of work.

“Obviously, my control was not near what I hoped for or what we needed,” Lauritzen said. “I couldn’t get ahead in counts. I was missing high and inside, plus my off-speed pitches were terrible.

“I tried working myself out of it and I kept telling myself to keep attacking,” the sophomore hurler added. “It wasn’t my best, but I was able to get us through five and two-thirds decent innings.”

“Aiden failed a little in throwing strikes, but he’s earned the right to fail a little,” Kreke noted. “We challenged him in the fourth inning and I thought he had a different look in his eye in that fifth inning. His last five outs were gritty outs, but he gave us everything he had.”

He reached his pitch count – 116 pitches – in the sixth and left with two runners on base and two outs. Joe Tegeler, who had not pitched since the regional tournament, came on in relief. He gave up an RBI single to Zayn Giles to trim the margin to just three runs, but retired Andy Munjoy on a pop-up.

In the seventh, the junior righthander was sensational. The Trojans’ lead-off hitter reached on an error, but Tegeler got both Cayden Rose and Connor Kelly to pop up and then struck out Ian Reid to secure the win and the Bulldogs first baseball state title since 2012.

The celebration began immediately.

“In a game like this, the moment would be too big for some guys,” Kreke explained. “But not Joe. He hadn’t pitched since the regional. What a great job he did staying ready.”

“You can’t compare innings during the regular season to innings in a state championship game,” Roepke added. “What Joe did was huge. He stayed calm. I’m very proud of him.”

Kreke admitted there were some nervous moments as the big, early lead continued to be reduced.

“Oh, yeah! There were definitely some nerves,” he admitted. “But you can deal with that in one of two ways. You can either let fear take over or you can get excited and elevate your game. You saw how our kids handled it and I couldn’t be prouder.”

The Bulldogs, who lost their final regular season game of the year, strung together seven straight victories in the postseason to finish with a 27-5 record.

“This actually started last fall,” Kreke recalled. “We had a new assistant coach, Blake Malatestinic. Within just a few weeks of being around this team, he said, ‘These guys are going to win the state championship.’ That’s what he saw in this group in a just a short amount of time.”

Kreke credited his entire coaching staff – Clint Lustig, Mark Young and Whitney Miller, in addition to Coach Malatestinic.

“You don’t just step into a program and get to this level,” Kreke said. “It takes years of hard work and players and coaches to buy into what you want to do. It takes a drive and a work ethic from everyone involved.

“This is a resilient group,” the coach added. “They work hard and don’t waver. They earned this.”

Kreke also gave a lot of credit to the three seniors – Beau Adams, Max Koenig and Connor Roepke.

“The leadership these guys have provided has been outstanding,” he said.

“For us, it’s doing the small things,” Roepke noted. “We try to keep everybody calm and focused. And we hold each other accountable.”

“This team is just a bunch of dogs,” Koenig added. “We never stop playing hard and we’re never out of a fight. This is a great group of guys and this is a great feeling.”

“We just tried to be genuine and not force anything,” Adams explained. “We just let things happen, plus we have a lot of fun together.”

“I wouldn’t want to do this with any other group of guys,” Roepke continued. “I will always remember this.”

Ever since losing to Goreville in last year’s super sectional, this group of Bulldogs have been highly motivated. Their mantra has been, “Job Not Finished.”

It appears one of those letters needs to be replaced. There’s a new mantra.

“Job Now Finished.”

Congratulations Bulldogs!