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In game one (a 6-4 win over Bishop Foley), the Patriots got in an early 2-0 hole in the first, but battled back for single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 advantage. USA lost the lead in the top of the sixth when they surrendered a run, but scored three times in the bottom of the inning to regain the edge.

While the first game was dicey at times, Beagle liked the "never say die attitude" he saw from his players. "At times it wasn't pretty... (but) I was happy with the kids; they really had to scratch some runs out (and did)."

The six runs of support for pitcher Matias Kraynak took some pressure off of the left hander, who battled all day, but didn't have his best outing. Kraynak allowed four runs on five hits and walked five, although he did rack up four strikeouts. Despite his struggles at times, Kraynak lasted 6 1/3 innings, before giving way to Brandon Bitzer who closed things out and got the save.

That close game in the semis, kept the Patriots in the proper mind frame heading into the finale. "I think that you want that tough game early. If you have a game where you win by five or six runs first, you might get a little overconfident and come into that second game a little more lax," Beagle explained.

"Playing that tough first game makes you tune up and be ready to go," he added.

One player who was definitely ready to step up when called upon was hurler Heath Schmidt. Schmidt, normally the number three pitcher in the rotation, was selected to start the finals do to his previous success against Mayville (he tossed nine solid innings in a 4-3 loss to the Wildcats earlier in the season).

"He pitched really well against them (earlier in the year) and we thought it was a good match-up for us," Beagle said. "As a coach you make a gut decision on which pitcher you are going to go with and it paid off."

It certainly did as Schmidt scattered five hits and struck out six in a complete game effort. "Whenever I get my chance I just come in and pitch," Schmidt said of his effort on the mound. "I've got a defense behind me and I just let them do the work."

He added, "I was smiling all game, I was (just) happy to be out there (in that situation)."

Beagle thought Schmidt's effort in a championship game was pretty similar to what happened in Regionals last year. "Jordan Bitzer was the ace of the staff last year and we pitched him first, because we had Reese in the first game and we had a lot of respect for them. Plus you never want to get knocked out with your ace sitting on the bench, so we pitched him," Beagle began.

"Matias, as a sophomore, came in and pitched the championship game and got the win in it. It is funny because, this year Matias is the ace and we asked another sophomore to come up and pitch the championship game and he did a great job, too," Beagle finished.

With the win over Mayville for the Regional title, USA advanced to last night's quarter-final game against Saginaw Nouvel. A victory against Nouvel would send the team to Bailey Park for a semi-final contest on Friday at 10 or 11 a.m.

Whether they advanced to Battle Creek or not, the mere fact that the Patriots have made it this far is a testament to how hard Beagle has worked to improve the program. "As a varsity baseball coach my goal is always to build our program," he explained.

"We talk about how in other sports we have a reputation of being successful. But one of the things we take great pride in at USA is that we don't want to win championships in one sport, we want our kids to try and win championships in everything we do," he added.

"These kids have really bought into it. Their football season didn't go how they wanted it and I think you saw some young kids come out and say we are going to change this."