Following the game, however, much of the discussion centered around the performance by Gaddis.

“It was definitely one of my better games, especially this year,” said the senior, who was all smiles and a little wet after getting the Gatorade bath by his teammates. “I’ve actually struggled this season. But when I was warming up before the game, everything felt loose. I felt like I was in the zone and really focused.”

“He was dialed in,” Fleener added. “He had good command of all hit pitches and was hitting his spots. The regional championship is a big occasion. Garrett stepped up big time.”

Gaddis, who throws a fastball, change-up and a breaking pitch, said he used his fastball the most.

“I didn’t throw my off-speed pitches as much,” he explained. “I felt like they were behind my fastball.”

Gaddis threw 84 total pitches and 61 of them were in the strike zone.

Only two Wolves reached base – Logan Atwood and Neil Young. Atwood walked twice and Young had Flora’s only two hits.

Atwood drew a one-out walk in the top of the first inning. With him running on a pitch, Young then got his team’s best hit of the game, lining a pitch to left-centerfield fence, allowing Atwood to come all the way around to score.

Gaddis then retired the next eight batters. Young added a bloop single in the fourth and Atwood walked in the sixth. The T-Town southpaw recorded 11 strikeouts.

The Shoes came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the first. Gaddis grounded a single up the middle. He stole second base, went to third on a base hit by Mick Niebrugge and scored when Mitch Koester’s ground ball was booted for an error.

T-Town scored what proved to be the winning runs in the second and then added three more in the fifth. Both of those rallies were sparked by the bottom of the lineup. Devin Kreke, Zac Niebrugge and Brett Kreke – the No. 7-8-9 hitters – combined to get six hits, plus they scored and drove in three runs.

In the second, Devin Kreke led off with a base hit, but was picked off first. Zac Niebrugge then doubled down the rightfield line and went to third when Brett Kreke grounded a single between shortstop and third base. With two outs, Worman walked and Mick Niebrugge then delivered, lining a 1-1 pitch to center, bringing home two runs and putting THS on top, 3-1.

T-Town had plenty of other scoring opportunities through the first four innings. They had eight hits and 11 baserunners, but had just three runs to show for that, while leaving seven runners stranded.

“You always get worried when that happens,” Fleener admitted. “You start wondering if that’s going to come back to hurt you. We missed some chances to drive in more runs, but with the way Garret was dealing, it gave us confidence.”

The cushion the Shoes wanted came in the bottom of the fifth.

The first four batters, each swinging on the first pitch they saw, all reached base. Koester and Waldhoff lined base hits and Devin Kreke laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases. On the fourth pitch of the inning, Zac Niebrugge smacked a line drive that sailed over the centerfielder’s head and rolled to the base of the fence 380 feet away. All three runners streaked home and Niebrugge raced to third for a bases-clearing triple, giving the hosts a five-run lead.

“That triple really opened the game up,” Fleener said. “Getting that kind of production from the bottom of the lineup always helps. But they’ve been very productive for us lately. Their approaches at the plate have been better. Anytime you get that production from that part of your lineup, good things generally happen.”

The Shoes finished with 12 hits. Devin Kreke went 3-for-3, while Zac and Mick Niebrugge and Koester added two.

Teutopolis is now 22-11 on the season and will advance to the Greenville Sectional. The Shoes will play at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday against Columbia.

‘This was a great win for us, especially for the seniors,” Gaddis said. “Moving on to the next round is a great feeling.”