The Shoes struck quickly. In the bottom of the first, Sam Bushur led off with a walk and the red-hot Kayden Althoff lined a single to right. After both runners moved up to second and third on a wild pitch, Andy Niebrugge dropped a one-out single into leftfield, driving in both runners and staking the hosts to the early 2-0 lead.

“I thought we came out and set the tone from the start,” Fleener noted. “Evan (Addis) set them down in order and then we came up and scored two runs. That’s the way you like to start the game.”

T-Town took control of the game with a five-run third. And, again, it was the first two batters in the lineup that got it started.

Bushur drew another walk and Athoff delivered a perfect hit-and-run single. Bushur raced to third and Althoff went to second on the throw. Wermert followed with a ground ball up the middle that got through a drawn-in infield for a two-run single.

Andy Niebrugge then blooped a single to left and Derek Konkel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dylan Pruemer came through with a sacrifice fly and Logan Roepke capped the inning with a clutch two-out single that drove home the final two runs and increased the THS lead to 7-0.

But to the Comets credit, they made a game of it over the next three innings.

In the fourth, a hit batter and a single by Drew Potthast set the stage for Tommy Baker’s three-run homer that sailed over the 352-foot sign in left-centerfield and trimmed the lead to 7-3.

Then in the sixth, Ryan Heath reached on an error. Baker, who went 3-for-4 and was only a double away from hitting for the cycle, then singled. After the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, they both scored when Ryan Jackson lined a single that just fell in front of a diving Dylan Pruemer.

“Greenville has a solid baseball program,” Fleener said. “They didn’t quit. They gave us their best effort and battled back into the game.”

The Shoes added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

Derek Deters led off with a base hit, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bushur and raced home when Althoff ripped an RBI double into the leftfield corner.

“That was a big run for us,” Fleener said. “That’s why we had Sam bunt and give Kayden a chance to drive in the run. He’s seeing the ball real well right now. He’s attacking the ball and using the whole field.”

Just like they did in the regional opener against Salem, the Shoes banged out 10 hits. Seven different hitters had at least one hit, with Althoff collecting three and Niebrugge two.

And Addis was strong on the mound. He allowed four hits and five runs – just two were earned. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11, while throwing 102 pitches.

“Evan got the job done,” Fleener said. “Giving up five runs to a team like Greenville is not bad at all. Evan made some very good pitches throughout the game. He battled all the way and gave us a good performance.”

The Shoes improved to 21-9 on the season. They will now open sectional play Wednesday at home against Columbia. The Eagles, who are 19-10, defeated Breese Central 10-1 in their regional championship game. Game time Wednesday is 4:30 p.m.