When Joe Trollen stepped to the plate in the fifth inning, he knew it was time.
Time for a base hit. Time for a rally. Time to make a statement.
East Ridge's senior center fielder lined a double into the gap in right center — the Raptors first hit of the game – igniting an onslaught of five runs and six hits, turning a one-run deficit into a comfortable lead en route to a 7-2 victory over New Prague in the Class 4A championship game.
It's the Raptors first state title in baseball.
"It really started everything," said Trollen of his hit that opened the floodgates for the Raptors. "We just needed that one spark to get us going."
The game started nearly 2½ hours late because of a rain delay earlier in the day. That may have been why it took East Ridge a while to solve New Prague starter Luke Tupy, who was untouchable through the first 4⅓ innings. Tupy retired the first 13 batters he faced, 10 of them by strikeout, before Trollen's game-turner.
"Luke kind of breezed for the first two times through the order," said New Prague coach Tanner Oakes, whose team finished 18-9. "Then they made some adjustments and put the barrel on the ball. Credit to them."
"He was throwing strikes, and we had to go up there, ready to attack," East Ridge coach Brian Sprout. "We did that."
The Trojans broke through in the third inning for the first run of the game thanks to the speed of center fielder Collin Dorzinski. He singled with one out, stole second and scored on two throwing errors by the East Ridge.
But East Ridge starter Ryan Thelen kept the Trojans to one run and three hits until his teammates were able to get the bats going.
"He's a guy that's got stuff. He's got multiple pitches that I would call dirty," Sprout said. "He was ready to go."
After Trollen's one-out double broke the ice, Tanner Stafne followed with a line-drive single to left, and Carter Seidl tied the score 1-1 when his sinking liner eluded the glove of New Prague shortstop Jake Deutsch, scoring Trollen from third.
Freshman Weber Neels stepped up and doubled over the head of Dorzinski, scoring Stafne and Seidl for a 3-1 lead. Anthony Lavelle kept the Raptors' hit parade alive, roping a double just inside the left field line, driving in Neels.
The end of Tupy's night came two batters later, when Cam Hunter singled to right, putting runners on first and third with two outs. An error on a ball hit to deep short by East Ridge' shortstop Ben North resulted in the fifth run of the inning for East Ridge.
New Prague got a run back in the top of the sixth, but East Ridge answered with two more in the bottom of the inning for the final margin.
The Raptors (21-6) finished fourth in the tough Suburban East Conference but felt like that prepared them for the postseason.
"We knew we were as good as any team out there," Trollen said. "This is amazing."
