“Kayden has been hitting the ball real well for us,” Fleener noted. “He’s a great guy to have in that second spot of the lineup. He can spray the ball to all fields and he can hit with two strikes on him. His blast into right-center set the tone for us and the guys just built off that.”

The Shoes added a single tally in the second. After the first two batters were retired, Bushur blooped a double down the rightfield line and Althoff followed with another ground ball deep into the hole that glanced off the shortstop’s glove and rolled into shallow leftfield, allowing Bushur to scamper home with the run.

T-Town then blew the game open with a five-run third. Niebrugge started things by getting hit with a pitch. Addis then singled and Konkel lined a base hit to left to drive in the first run.

After the next two batters were retired, Derek Deters ripped a pitch over the centerfielder’s head for a two-run triple. The fourth run scored on a balk and Althoff capped the inning with his third hit of the game, driving home Bushur, who had walked and stole second.

The Shoes made it 10-0 in the fourth. Niebrugge walked, courtesy runner Max Niebrugge stole second and scored when Konkel ripped an RBI double.

That was more than enough support for Niebrugge, who went all five innings and threw 94 pitches. The senior right-hander allowed just three hits while walking three and striking out 11.

“Andy did a nice job,” Fleener said. “Several times he fell behind 3-0 in the count, but found a way to battle back and get the out. He made some very good pitches in tight situations.

“I thought he over-threw the ball a couple times,” Fleener added. “But when he settled down, he controlled his pitches much better. I thought he did a good job keeping their hitters off-balance.”

The Shoes finished with 10 hits. In addition to Althoff’s three, Addis and Konkel each had a pair of hits, and both Althoff and Konkel drove in three runs.

The win was the 20th of the season for T-Town and improved its record to 20-9 overall.

The Shoes will now face Greenville for the regional title. That game will be played at 4:30 Monday in Teutopolis. Greenville reached the finals by beating Flora 13-8 Friday.

“This is a great time of year,” Fleener said. “We’re starting the postseason later than in past years, but that doesn’t matter. These are big games. There’s a different feeling when you come to the ball park. Like I said, it’s just a great time of year.”