Gehlen Catholic senior TJ Britton walks off the field as Sentral players celebrate their come-from-behind 9-8 win Thursday in a Class 1A semifinal game at the state baseball tournament in Des Moines. It was the first time in four state appearances that the Jays lost in the semis. (Sentinel photo by Ty Capron) [Click to enlarge]

When the clouds broke two innings into Gehlen Catholic's Class 1A semifinal game with third-ranked Sentral, Fenton, Thursday at the state baseball tournament in Des Moines, it seemed an insignificant - if not welcome - addition to the atmosphere at Principal Park. Jays' starting pitcher Alex Loutsch would say different, however.

Loutsch issued a season-high nine walks while throwing well over 100 pitches under that blazing sun, putting two aboard to start the seventh as Sentral rallied from two runs down in the frame to steal a 9-8 win and advance to the 1A title game Saturday.

"It was definitely hot and the sun took a toll on me in the fifth and sixth innings," said Loutsch. "In the seventh inning, it just took too much out of me."

The junior left-hander had walked two in the sixth as Sentral closed to within two at 8-6 and started the seventh by walking the Spartans' Casey Hurlburt and Kyle Rahm. His first two pitches to Sentral's third batter of the inning - Matt Greinert - were also balls and Gehlen coach Marty Kurth made the difficult decision to pull his staff ace. Junior Mitch Kurth moved from shortstop to the mound and completed the walk to Greinert, then hit Shaun McGuire to force in a run. Brice Boeckholt - who was 0 for 2 on the day coming into the seventh - followed with bouncing hit to new shortstop Taylor Smith and the ball hopped over Smith's glove, allowing Hurlburt and Rahm to score the tying and winning runs.

"The toughest decision for a coach is when to pull a kid and when not to," said Kurth of relieving Loutsch. "I didn't want to pull Alex. My heart did not want to do it. But I thought it was time and I take a little bit of the blame for that, because I didn't give Mitch a chance to warm up."

Even with a proper warm-up, Mitch would have been hard-pressed to escape the situation with bases loaded, no outs and two balls on the first batter he faced.

"I didn't want to do it if I didn't have to," said Mitch. "I wanted (Alex) to stick it out as long was he could. He deserved all the credit for that game. He threw way too many pitches probably and struggled a little bit, but he did a great job on the mound and he left his heart out there for us."

Loutsch ended up allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits with nine walks and eight strikeouts. It was a frustrating final outing, said the junior, after performing brilliantly in three previous postseason starts.

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"I didn't have my best stuff tonight, but I thought I had enough to beat them," said Loutsch. "It just wasn't there."

Although frustration was the common emotion among players and coaches alike for the Jays following the loss, Coach Kurth said that there was a lot to be proud of in even reaching the state semifinals after a 13-14 regular season.

"You never like to see a game end the way this game ended, but I give my kids a lot of credit. They gutted it out," said Kurth, now 8-2 in state tournament games as Gehlen coach. "We weren't supposed to be here and we weren't supposed to do anything once we got here. I think we proved to everybody that we belonged and that we're a pretty nice ballclub."

Son Mitch, who finished the day 3 for 4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored, shared Marty's mix of disappointment in the loss and pride in what the Jays were able to accomplish.

"We wanted to win our last game of the year, but it wasn't the circumstances tonight and we're heartbroken," said Mitch. "We thought we could beat anyone and we think we proved ourselves down here. No one expected Gehlen to be down here. Just the fact that we could hang in there with the best and make a game out of it was great."

The Jays had Sentral wondering early on, sending 18 batters to the plate while scoring seven runs over the first two innings.

Smith reached on an error with one out in the top of the first and Eric Rohe walked, setting Gehlen's scoring frenzy in motion as Kurth followed with a two-run double. TJ Britton added an RBI double to score Kurth, but the Jays were forced to settle for a 3-0 lead after leaving the bases loaded.

Sentral's potent lineup came roaring back in the bottom of the opening frame as Aaron Siefken ripped a bases-clearing double to tie the score and Luedtke chipped in an RBI single to put the Spartans on top 4-3.

Gehlen answered right back with three runs in the top of the second as Sentral coach Mike Elsbecker pulled Luedtke in favor of Siefken after Luedtke walked Loutsch to start the frame. Siefken walked the first batter he faced in Smith and Rohe followed with a single to load the bases. Loutsch was tagged out on a failed suicide squeeze play, but Smith - who moved to third on the play - scored moments later on a wild pitch. Kurth then connected on an RBI single and - after walks to Nick Reuter and BJ Sitzmann - sophomore Craig Schlesser smacked a two-run single. Schlesser's single gave Gehlen a 7-4 lead, but again the Jays missed a chance for more with runners stranded on second and third.

Sentral threatened to overcome the Jays in the third as Loutsch issued three straight walks and Steven Looft knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly. Loutsch recovered, however, striking out two with the bases loaded to end the threat and preserve Gehlen's lead at 7-5.

The Jays added their final run of the game in the fourth as Kurth led off with a double, advanced to third on a balk and scored on a Britton sacrifice fly.

The three-run cushion would hold until the sixth, when the heat finally began to catch up to Loutsch. Sentral's Greinert reached on an error with one out and a walk to Boeckholt and a Siefken single loaded the bases, forcing in a run as Loutsch walked Luedtke.

Gehlen entered the final inning clinging to an 8-6 lead with Sentral's 8-9-1 hitters due up. But Loutsch walked Hurlburt and Rahm after striking the two out a combined five times over the first six innings, opening the door for Sentral's game-winning rally.

Siefken picked up the win for Sentral, allowing five of Gehlen's eight runs and seven of nine hits while walking four and striking out nine over six innings.

Kurth led the Jays at the plate with his three hits and senior TJ Britton added two hits and two RBIs. Rohe was also 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Catcher Britton and first baseman BJ Sitzmann were the club's only seniors.

"I have to give TJ and BJ a lot of credit for hanging with this team and building this team, having confidence in everybody," said Kurth. "They had great years for us, super years. I can't say enough about those two and the experience these kids got in this tournament, that will last forever."

The Jays finished the season 18-15 and despite the way it all ended for junior Loutsch, he wouldn't trade it for anything.

"This definitely hurts right now," added Loutsch. "But we lost a great game to a great ballclub. We had a great run and it was fun. I can't wait until next year."