Watching the baseball he smacked roll to the right-center field wall, BOLD junior Jordan Sagedahl figured he would reach third base.
Getting waved home instead gave him a thrill.
So Sagedahl kept running, stumbling for just a moment rounding third base. A headfirst slide into home dirtied his white pants and red jersey on a day he was otherwise spotless against New York Mills.
Sagedahl's inside-the-park home run and shutout highlighted an 8-0 victory for BOLD in the Class 1A state championship game Thursday at Target Field.
The Warriors (20-5), who represent Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian School District, won their only other title in 2013.
About the only thing not going Sagedahl's way was losing a no-hitter when New York Mills (21-5) designated hitter Abe Carlson singled to lead off the top of the seventh and final inning.
"I was just going for a win, but it kind of hurt," Sagedahl said. "But a shutout is pretty good."
Sagedahl, who finished with nine strikeouts, used a solid fastball to master New York Mills hitters.
"His velocity was up there," Eagles coach Dustin Geiser said. "It's better pitching than we've seen probably most of the year. He could mix and match as he needed to but really he just had a nice fastball and he could locate it."
Blake Flann, inserted as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, delivered the game's first run on an RBI double.
"Big Flower got a good timely hit for us," said Sagedahl, calling Flann by a nickname bestowed on a football bus ride.
Then Sagedahl hustled for a home run to lead off the fifth inning.
"When I got in the dugout I was so gassed," he said.
Sagedahl, the quarterback on the Warriors football team, said the win helped ease the disappointment of losing the Class 1A Prep Bowl last fall.
