Something will be very different in Monday’s regional championship game.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes won’t be part of it.

Coming into this year’s postseason, the Shoes had a string of 13 straight regional titles and 17 of the last 18. The last time they didn’t win a regional was 2007. George W. Bush was president.

But that streak came to an end Thursday night in Vandalia. The Salem Tigers took advantage of five T-Town errors, got a pair of clutch two-out hits in the sixth and came away with a 7-6 win in a semifinal game of the Class 2A Vandalia Regional.

The Shoes, who trailed 4-1 early, had battled back to take a 6-4 lead after five innings. But Salem used a single, an error and a hit batter to load the bases with two outs. Carter Rose then delivered a two-run single to tie the game and Charlie Hunter followed with what proved to be the game-winning base hit, bringing home the go-ahead run.

Griffin Day, the third Salem pitcher of the day, allowed only one baserunner in the final two innings, clinching the win for the Tigers and earning them a berth in the regional final against Vandalia. Due to rain, that championship game will be played Monday.

Defense did hurt the Shoes. Two errors allowed one run to score in the first and two more miscues resulted in three more runs crossing the plate in the second, helping Salem build the 4-1 lead.

The Shoes scored six runs on 12 hits through the first five innings and had opportunities to tack on even more. But they left 10 runners on bases – 11 total in the game -- including stranding the bases loaded twice.

THS scored in each of the first five innings. Mitch Althoff had an RBI in the first and Evan Waldhoff added a two-out run-scoring single in the second.

In the third, Kayden Althoff led off with a double and scored on a base hit by Mitch Althoff. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. But two pop-ups and a strikeout ended that threat.

The Shoes took the lead with a two-run fourth. With two outs, Kayden Althoff blasted a pitch over the leftfield fence for a solo home run. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases. Caleb Siemer came through with an RBI hit, but the bases were still jammed when the final out was recorded.

Teutopolis made it 6-4 in the fifth. Waldhoff walked, Sam Bushur singled and Buehnerkemper had an RBI single – again with no outs. But a double play and a strikeout ended that threat.

Bushur pitched the first 5.2 innings and took the loss. He allowed seven hits and seven runs, but only one of those was earned. He walked one and struck out six.

The Shoes finished their season with a 23-12 record.