ROGERSVILLE, MO -- (Ozarks Sports Zone, Chris Parker) It is hard to be an underdog when your team is ranked fifth in the state coming off a state runner-up finish with many key players returning from a state runner-up team. For Class 4 District 10 No. 3 seed Springfield Catholic, underdog is the identity they adopted.

"We came in here and got the three seed and really embraced the underdog mentality," Catholic junior Jack Schoen said. "When we heard we were the three seed we truly felt disrespected."

"The three seed…was just fuel to the fire for our whole team. We did not like that. We knew Rogersville deserved No. 1, but we thought we deserved No. 2. We had some fire behind us," Catholic senior Coleman Morrison said.

That No. 3 seed has been at the forefront of conversation in the Irish huddle since it was announced.

"I have been talking about it since the day that (being seeded third) happened," Spitz said. "I haven't let these kids forget about it. I went to practice that day and told them everything. I told them how I felt and I told them what we needed to do and what our plan is and they have executed."

On Wednesday, the newly minted underdogs put the state on notice with a 2-1 win over Class 4 No. 1 Logan-Rogersville. Rogersville beat Catholic 12-6 in the regular season meeting.

Both teams created numerous opportunities throughout the game combining to strand 25 runners over seven innings.

The scoring kicked off in the bottom of the third inning. Torin Trent worked a walk on six pitches for Rogersville. Zach Higdon followed him with a bunt. A throwing error had Rogersville in business with runners on first and third. Rogersville starting pitcher Ross Lawrence helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly to score Trent.

Morrison loaded the bases with back-to-back walks to Curry Sutherland and Noah Carrow before inducing two groundouts to hold the Wildcats to just one run.

The Irish had a quick answer in the top half of the fourth inning. Morrison started the rally off with a dribbler down the first-base line that turned into a hustle single complete with a head-first dive into the bag.

"Our coach preaches hustle down the basepaths you don't know what is going to happen," Morrison said. "I saw it was close and dove in. I was doing anything to get some people on base and score some runs."

Morrison was lifted for courtesy runner Clayton Stuhlsatz. Stuhlsatz went first-to-third on a Ben Ruter single to center. After Ruter was caught stealing and Colin Soetart reached on a walk, Logan Ripper hit a single to left to bring Stuhlsatz home and tie the game.

After a strikeout, Catholic loaded the bases on a Hans Kaiser infield single. Lawrence ended the threat with another strikeout.

The scoring remained quiet until the seventh inning, but the basepaths were busy.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Morrison got Sutherland to fly out and then Rogersville saw three straight batters reach. Morrison induced an infield fly to get the second out, but he had to give way to Jack Schoen with the bases loaded and two out after hitting his pitch count.

Schoen stepped in and ended the Rogersville threat by inducing a groundout back to the mound.

"That was huge. That was massive from him (Schoen)," Morrison said. "He left it out there. That was impressive."

In the top of the sixth, Lawrence saw the first batter reach on an error before striking out the next two Catholic batters. The Missouri State commit also hit his pitch count limit forcing him to give way to Sutherland. Lawrence finished with 11 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Sutherland closed out the sixth inning with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the sixth, Schoen kept Rogersville off the basepaths for the first time in the game giving the Irish momentum heading into the top of the final inning.

Nic Ruter started out the seventh inning with an infield single for Catholic. Ben Smith followed Ruter reaching base thanks to a hit by pitch. Morrison struck out following Smith, but the runners advanced after the third strike found its way to the backstop. Ben Ruter walked to load the bases.

Sutherland struck out the next batter getting one out away from escaping the jam, but a pass ball on the next batter allowed Nic Ruter to slide into home and give Catholic its first lead of the game. Logan Ripper was hit by a pitch to load the bases back up, but Sutherland ended the threat with his fourth strikeout of the game.

Rogersville would not go away quietly.

Sutherland started the top of the seventh inning with what looked to be a game-tying home run off the bat, but it was caught at the warning track in left center field.

Noah Carrow worked a walk on the ensuing batter and Brady Buckman reached on an error to give Rogersville runners at first and second with one out. Schoen struck out the next batter he faced and induced a lineout to the shortstop to end the threat and the game.

Schoen threw a scoreless 2 1/3 innings of relief.

"He is a go-getter. He is our shortstop and one of our true leaders on the team. He wants that moment, and I knew he would want it," Spitz said. "He is out there, and I had all the faith in the world. He is a strike thrower. He is an athlete. He just competes. He is one of the biggest competitors on our team."

The victory over Rogersville gives Catholic all the confidence it could need moving forward in the postseason.

"(Rogersville) is the No. 1 team in the state and rightfully so. They are tremendous. They are well-coached. They have great talent. They have great pitching and defense. You knock off the top dog, and you don't want to say it gets easier, but it is a weight off your shoulders," Spitz said. "Now we just go. We try to get this thing going downhill and try to get back to Sky Bacon Stadium."

"I think beating a team like Rogersville, No. 1 in the state, will give us a lot of momentum going forward in the postseason," Schoen said.

Catholic will travel to face Eldon on Tuesday in the Class 4 state quarterfinals.

"I think we can go as far as we want. We are starting to really trust our stuff whether it is our bats, arms on the mound, defense, everything. The team is starting to trust themselves and it is going a long way. (There is) not as much second-guessing now. It is people going out playing and trusting themselves," Morrison said.