New Life Academy has won 15 games by 10 runs or more. It’s currently thriving at the other extreme – nail biters.

Senior Brady Gunderson belted a three-run home run with one out in the top of the seventh inning, giving the defending state champion Eagles a 5-2 victory on Saturday over upset-minded Brandon-Evansville in the Class 1A semifinals at the Mini Met in Jordan.

“It’s fun playing teams that can hang with us,” Gunderson said. “It’s a nice challenge.”

The Eagles grabbed a 2-0 lead on Aaron Bouillon’s two-run, inside-the-park home run in the second inning. Brandon-Evansville left fielder Patrick McGaffey crashed hard into the wall tracking Bouillon’s rocket, and laid on the warning track as the sophomore circled the bases.

“I was in a two-strike mindset, just put the bat on the ball,” Bouillon said. “I thought it was going to be a routine fly out, but it just soared. I just kept chugging around the bases.”

The smallest player in the tournament then came up big for Brandon-Evansville. Sophomore Jake Nohre, who is 5-foot-4, delivered a two-run single in the bottom half the third, tying it at two-all.

“He’s a quiet kid whose actions on the field speak loudly,” Brandon-Evansville coach Brian Perleberg said. Nohre moved from right field to left when McGaffey was injured, and had a couple of excellent running catches.

In the seventh, New Life Academy sophomore Henry George and junior Simon Killeen opened with back-to-back singles. After senior Sam Horner flew out to deep left, Gunderson crushed a 1-0 pitch from Brandon-Evansville senior Thomas Bosek that just stayed fair down the left-field line.

“I was sitting fastball,” Gunderson said. “I thought it was going foul, so I stood there for a few seconds. That’s the best feeling in the world.”

Bosek was the epitome of an ace. He threw 88 pitches in a complete game shutout over Lewiston-Altura the previous day. Gunderson homered on his 100th pitch against the Eagles.

“It wasn’t the ideal situation, throwing our best pitcher two days in a row,” Perleberg said. “He gave us the best chance to win.”

The Eagles (21-2) will play New Ulm Cathedral for the championship Monday at Target Field starting at noon.