Father knows best and the whole town of New Prague is cheering

Tanner Oakes can't go anywhere in New Prague this days without getting a pat on the back and a good luck from townsfolks thrilled by the Trojans' run through the Class 4A baseball tournament.

"Everyone I run into, the first thing they talk about is the baseball team," said Oakes, New Prague's first-year coach. "The whole town is talking about it. It's pretty cool."

New Prague is one victory from the first baseball state championship in school history. The surprising Trojans (18-8) play East Ridge, itself an unexpected finalist, in the Class 4A championship game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Target Field.

"I was in church on Sunday and Father was doing the announcements and he said 'Good luck to the baseball team playing in the state championship this week,' " recalled Trojans outfielder and team captain Joe Weiers. " 'And good luck our own Joe Weiers, who is 7-for-8.' I bet there were 100 people in the church and they all started clapping. It's been insane."

After a 12-7 regular season, the Trojans have won six of seven postseason games. They reached the finals by defeating No. 2-seeded Blaine 7-6 in the quarterfinals and Rogers 12-7 in the semifinals.

They've done it without a whiff of nervousness, remarkable considering the program hadn't been to the state tournament since 1980, when today's dads and uncles were in high school.

"It's crazy how relaxed this team is," said Oakes after practice on Monday. "You'd never guess we were preparing for the state championship game."

Oakes' calm demeanor has filtered down through the team. The son of well-respected former University of Minnesota pitching coach Todd Oakes, he said the most important thing he gleaned from late father is "teaching perspective."

"It's not as much about the game of baseball as it is about the game of life and teaching what it truly important," Tanner said. "And baseball is a great way to reach kids."

Said Weiers, "Coach Oakes doesn't ever get flustered. He reminds us that the important things in life are relationships. You can lose, but life is not over. That helps us keep things in perspective."

The Trojans have had chances to fold. They routed Lakeville North in the Section 1 championship game after the higher-seeded Panthers had defeated them the game before. And in both state tournament games, they have seen big leads disappear but never lost their forward momentum.

"We always keep going," Novak said. "If we have some adversity, we're going to find a way around it."

"Blaine was over twice as big as we are," Weiers said. "But we like being the underdogs."

The stage won't get any bigger than on Thursday, when players expect much of their hopeful community to be seated in the Target Field seats.

"I'd like to be in New Prague Thursday night," Weiers said with a laugh. "It's going to be unbelieveably empty. Nobody is going to be there."

Don't expect the Trojans to succumb to nerves, however. They're too far along to get the jitters now.

"We just going to do what we're supposed to do." Novak said. "Play some ball."