THS was clinging to a 2-1 lead in the last inning against St. James Academy (10-8). Tonganoxie needed just three outs, but pitcher Trevor McGraw only had a few pitches left before he hit his maximum number for the game.

He walked the leadoff runner in the top of the seventh after allowing one run on four hits in the game. He was at 104 pitches, so THS coach Mitch Loomis brought in senior Ethan Welsh. It was the third of three games last week for THS, so the pitching staff was spent.

Welsh came in relief and took the mound for the first time this season.

THS got one out on a sacrifice bunt before he allowed a walk.

With runners on at first and second and the Thunder threatening, Welsh got a strikeout and then a groundout that just nabbed the runner to first in time.

Game over.

Loomis could be seen giving Welsh a big hug after the game near the THS dugout.

“He’s a senior,” Loomis said. “He hasn’t pitched for us at all this year. “He’s just one of those kids, no matter the spot he steps up and is not scared of the moment.”

The victory helped end a three-game losing streak just as easily could have part of a seven-game winning streak. THS had won three straight before losing, 4-3, to Bonner Springs in the Butch Foster Classic last week and then 2-1 on May 2 against Ottawa and 5-1 Wednesday, May 3, against Atchison. THS pushed the game into extra innings in the bottom of the seventh and made it 1-1.

The Phoenix then scored 4 runs in the top of the 11th on its way to a 5-1 victory.

“It was just a big win we needed and to see our seniors come through like that is always special,” Loomis said.

The Chieftains improved to 11-8 with Friday’s victory. They finish up the regular season today at home against Eudora (6-11). The game will start about 6:15 p.m. at the fairgrounds.

Tonganoxie was the No. 11 seed in the Class 4A East Regional as of Tuesday afternoon, but there’s a logjam of records from the No. 5 seed down.

Those seedings will become final later this week when the regular season wraps up for all teams. Regionals are next week.

There will be four teams each from the East and West regionals that will advance to state. Loomis said it should be interesting to see which teams come out of a balanced East Bracket this season.

“This is one of the more complete years on the East half,” Loomis said. “There are 10 teams that could come out of our 4 (state) spots.”