Very hard to beat

For Maple Grove senior outfielder Taylor McWilliams, the Crimson's undefeated regular season was uncharted -- if also unexpected -- territory. Before falling once in the section playoffs to Coon Rapids, the Crimson completed a perfect regular season, something that wasn't even discussed in the goals at the beginning of the season.

Now heading into the state tournament for the sixth time -- after rallying through the loser's bracket in the section playoffs -- the squad will try to create another new map: one that leads to a state championship. In the 15 years since Maple Grove opened its doors, the Crimson has not won a championship in any of these boys' team sports: soccer, football, hockey, basketball and baseball. The 2011 baseball team hopes to change that.

"That would actually be really cool, that's what we want to do," said McWilliams. "We'd love to start a tradition where we go to state every year and hopefully win state every couple years -- and just set a mindset for the team that we can win championships, we can reach our ultimate goal."

That endpoint has been on Crimson minds since the beginning of the season, when in a team meeting the players listed as priorities winning the conference championship, the section championship and ultimately heading to Target Field for the state championship game.

"Did I think it was realistic? Yeah, I thought we would have a competitive club," said coach Darby Carlson, who coaches in the VFW league in the summer and knew about the talent the Crimson had infused into its system the past few years. "But I think in sports, when you get to the point we're at, you have to have a little luck, things have to go your way. We've had other teams in the past that have probably been as good, but maybe we didn't get the breaks."

Breaks or not, the Crimson was nearly flawless during the regular season, something that came as a bit of a surprise to most surrounding the program.

"It never crossed our mind that we could possibly go undefeated in the regular season," said McWilliams, who never has been a part of an undefeated team in any sport. "That was never a goal."

"We were getting a little pressure from our friends at school," McWilliams said. "Probably when we got to about 17-0 and realized only had Blaine, Coon Rapids and Armstrong left ... we thought, well we could actually do this. But we didn't want to concentrate on that -- we knew we'd have to win every game on our own."

In the double-elimination section playoffs, the Crimson lost to Coon Rapids, ending the perfect season but it still had a chance to advance to the state tournament. Maple Grove took full advantage, beating the Cardinals twice.

"They hadn't seen disappointment before," Carlson said. "And it didn't taste very good."

That loss, McWilliams said, was not only key in alleviating some of the pressure, but also providing the sense of urgency necessary when entering a major tournament.

"We realized we are a beatable team," McWilliams said. "It really motivated us to work harder."