ST. VINCENT IN FINAL FOUR FOR FIRST TIME

WINONA -- St. Vincent High's baseball team is headed to the state semifinals for the first time in school history.

The Indians secured their first final four berth by rallying past host Winona 11-5 Sunday afternoon in the Class 1A quarterfinals.

St. Vincent, which won its eighth straight game to finally climb above the .500 mark at 14-13, will play Engelwood Christian of Independence at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Simmons Field in Columbia in a 1A semifinal matchup.

"It's a real exciting time for our program," said first-year St. Vincent coach Rick Wibbenmeyer. "The kids are just doing whatever it takes to win and we're hoping that continues in Columbia."

Winona (16-3) built up a 5-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings, but St. Vincent roared back by scoring the game's final 10 runs.

"The kids really bounced back well after we got behind," Wibbenmeyer said.

Tyler Wengert recovered from a shaky start -- fueled in large part by Winona's extremely small field -- to pitch all seven innings as he improved his record to 7-3. The sophomore allowed eight hits and three walks while striking out six.

"For that field, I thought Tyler did a very good job," said Wibbenmeyer. "He gave up three home runs, but two would have probably been outs on most fields."

St. Vincent had three homers of its own, two by Justin Amschler, who drove in five runs. Wengert also homered for the Indians, who finished with 10 hits.

The Indians, the official home team after a coin clip, led 1-0 early, but Winona tied it in the third and appeared to take control with a four-run fourth that featured a pair of two-run homers and put the Wildcats ahead 5-1.

But St. Vincent came right back with four in the bottom of the fourth. Amschler's three-run homer made it 5-4, then Adam Bockman doubled and Brandon Carroll delivered an RBI single to tie the contest.

"I always tell our players that it's not what happens to you, but how you respond, and boy, did we respond," said Wibbenmeyer of that pivotal fourth inning.

Wengert settled down and retired the Wildcats in the fifth, then the Indians went ahead for good in the bottom of the frame as Josh Robinson was hit by a pitch and Amschler belted a two-run homer to make it 7-5.

With Wengert in control by now, the Indians added four insurance runs in the sixth, the first coming on Wengert's leadoff homer.

"Tyler was a little shaken after that fourth inning, but he really settled down," Wibbenmeyer said. "All the guys really did a good job. We hadn't been scoring that many runs, but we were able to get 11. It just seems like every game, we do what it takes to win."