The Blair High School baseball team has 11 losses this season.
A lot of them, the Bears led.
The circumstances were quite similar Friday during the Class B-6 District Tournament Final. Coach John Roan's team held a 2-0 lead against Platte Valley before the Patriots scored on a BHS error in the final inning.
With two runners still on base at Vets Field, things were tense with a state qualification on the line.
“Here's the deal,” Roan said. “That kind of situation all year long has been our biggest nemesis and we finally overcame it.”
Senior starting pitcher Tanner Jacobson stuck it out until the end, inducing a fly ball with his final pitch. Brady Brown has seen hundreds of them just like it.
“I knew that was the end of the game and that we were going to be celebrating soon,” the centerfielder said.
The Bears won, 2-1, securing their first NSAA State Championships appearance since 2017 and fifth in school history. They next play May 11 against second-seeded Elkhorn North at 9 a.m. on Tal Anderson Field in Omaha.
“In the biggest situation of the year, we finally found a way to get it done,” Roan said. “It feels amazing. I'm really proud of these kids.”
Senior third baseman J'Shawn Unger was proud, too.
“It's been a dream for a long time,” the Nebraska recruit said.
Blair's pitching was key to its 2-0 district run. Dylan Swanson struck out 10 during a first-round win against Seward before Jacobson threw a complete game Friday, striking out five Patriots. Their catcher, Nate Wachter, said both seniors delivered efficiency with the stakes high.
“Those two, every time we send them out onto the field, they're just ready to battle,” he said after 14 innings behind the plate in less than 24 hours. “We always have a chance to win the moment they step on the mound.”
Jacobson started fast against Platte Valley, getting three-straight outs during the first inning before picking up his second strikeout in the second. He said he developed a rhythm with Wachter in good time.
“It started early with a lot of fastballs,” the right-hander explained. “I think that's how I stayed so low in pitch count. We stayed really efficient.”
Jacobson pitched with a lead from the third inning on, too, after Carter Saylor pushed across the Bears' first run in the second. Owen Mann and Nelson Kosch first moved Swanson along on the basepath, setting him up to score.
From there, Saylor, a junior, fell behind in the count against the Patriots, staring down a potential third strike.
“He threw me a curveball and I knew I had to take advantage because I probably wouldn't get a better pitch the rest of the night,” he said.
The junior's swing put the ball in left field and brought Swanson home for a 1-0 advantage. It held until the fifth inning when Brown added to it with a low-liner single to left again.
The hit plated Jacobson for what wound up as the winning run. It earned the Bears' highly-touted senior class — Wachter, Brown, Swanson, Blaine Rosenbaum, Unger and Jacobson — its first and what will be its only state tournament berth.
“They've got us here,” Saylor said. “Without them, we wouldn't be even close to where we are.”
After a district finals loss at Omaha Gross last spring, Brown said it was rewarding to get it done at Vets Field this time around.
“It's just awesome being able to finally do it in front of our community,” he said. “Be able to have everyone see how hard we were working this whole season to bounce back from the start.”
BHS opened with five-straight losses and has 11 overall, but it's ending its season at the tournament it wanted from the beginning.
“We had our goal and we stuck with it,” Jacobson said.
When it mattered most, the Bears overcame adversity and won.
“We caught fire at the right time,” Unger said. “It's perfect. We're going to state.”
Swanson leads Bears past Seward
First, though, Blair needed to defeat second-seeded Seward on Thursday in Bennington to reach Friday's district final.
When it did, Rosenbaum was smiling.
“Excited to go another day,” he said.
BHS topped the 15-7 Bluejays 5-0, waiting out a more than 3-hour delay from the game's original start time of 5:30 p.m. at Pruess Field. The first-round matchup was originally pushed back as the wet infield dried, but wound up starting even later after Platte Valley and Bennington went 14 innings in the district opener.
Jacobson, ultimately, saw Seward's first pitch at 8:44 p.m.
“We just kept staying loose and having good energy,” Swanson said of BHS' wait. “We just kept our focus. Knew the goal, but we just wanted to have fun.”
The left-handed pitcher went on to be the Bears' star performer against the Bluejays. By the time the game ended at 11:10 p.m., he'd logged six innings of mound work with 10 strikeouts.
“I just, pretty much, worked on hitting my spots,” Swanson said. “Commanding my pitches and just making sure I was on point.”
The Doane University recruit was stellar from the start, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced through two innings.
At the same time, Blair produced three runs. After a scoreless first frame, Saylor reached base when Seward dropped a third-strike pitch. Lucas Matejka hit a first-pitch single next, leading to a two-out plate appearance by Wachter. The catcher delivered, pounding an RBI single through the left side of the Bluejays' infield.
Next up, Brown belted a full-count pitch into the outfield for two more Bear runs.
Swanson enjoyed the lead, but knew his team had a long way to go.
“I just had to keep focus,” he said. “Seven-inning game.”
Saylor provided more cushion between BHS and Seward when he scored on a passed ball during the fourth frame. Swanson then helped his own cause in the top of the seventh, plating Brown with an RBI single.
Ahead 5-0, Coach Roan's squad relieved Swanson, putting Rosenbaum — a right-hander — in position to close out the late-night game.
“I'm ready to go do it,” the senior said, revealing his mindset going into the final half inning. “I'm ready to finish out what Dylan started. Just ready to put in the work. Put them down.”
Seward grounded out first, but put two runners on base against Rosenbaum. The pitcher didn't flinch, though, securing the last two outs by strikeout.
“Trying to be smart,” the senior said when asked his keys to success. “Throwing the right pitch.”
Rosenbaum did, giving the Bears a home opportunity to advance onto the state tournament. It was an opportunity they took advantage of.
BHS BASEBALL LINE SCORES
Friday
Blair 2, Platte Valley 1
PV (12-12) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 6 1
BHS (11-11) 0 1 0 0 1 0 X — 2 7 2
Thursday
Blair 5, Seward 0
BHS (10-11) 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 — 5 7 0
SHS (15-7) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 0
