Taking the mound  in the 5th inning May 22, senior Shane Kearby was tasked with protecting the one run lead the Vikings had over Marquette. He proceeded to throw three innings with no earned runs and five strikeouts, and the Vikings won, 7-4.

“I just wanted to keep Marquette where they were at,” Kearby said. “Even though they tied it up on me, it was important to stay calm, and I still felt confident.”

After a first inning where Marquette loaded the bases and wasn’t able to score, Howell was able to score first.

Following a scoreless second inning, Marquette was able to plate two runs in the third inning, but in the fourth Howell regained the lead.

In the fifth inning, the teams tied it up at four runs each, but during the sixth inning, Howell broke the game open with hits from seniors Sam Maddox and Carson Subbert.

“We just tried to stay calm and have fun during the game so it wasn’t too intense, and we were able to see a couple pitches and drive in some runs,” Subbert said.

The game concluded with Howell winning 7-4. The team will face Ft. Zumwalt West for a trip to the state’s final four May 29. 

“It was really awesome to close that game out, I hadn’t ever closed out a game that big before so that felt really good,” Kearby said.