Brad Goulet made up for lost time, and a championship.

The junior shortstop delivered a one-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving New Life Academy its second consecutive Class 1A state crown with a 6-5 victory Springfield in the Class 1A finals at Target Field.

Goulet watched from the stands a year ago, when the Woodbury-based school won a one-run game, 5-4 over New York Mills, for the title.

“A lot of people thought I should have been playing baseball last year,” said Goulet, who played for the Eagles as an eighth grader and freshman, but decided to give spring basketball a try last year. “This is just amazing.”

One of those advocates to get Goulet back on the diamond was Eagles coach Dave Darr.

“He came up to me last year after we won, and said ‘Coach, I’m sorry I didn’t play this year,’ ” Darr said. “I was disappointed when he didn’t come out last year. I knew he was going to be a good player.”

Goulet took an 0-2 pitch back through the middle, scoring Simon Killeen from second base. It was Goulet’s second hit of the day. Killeen and Sam Horner opened the eighth inning with back-to-back singles.

“I was surprised I got a 0-2 pitch right down the middle,” Goulet said. “I just took it back through the middle.”

The Eagles tied it at five-all on a two-out, run-scoring single by Thomas Gunderson in the sixth inning. Horner, who went 3-for-4, had a double to start the frame.

“Our chemistry was unbelievable all season,” said Killeen, who had two hits and scored twice. “I couldn’t ask for a better group. We had something special.”

Springfield almost ran its way to a state championship. Its aggressive nature on the base paths — steal at all costs — led to three runs on three New Life Academy throwing errors. All of which were orchestrated from steal attempts on first-and-third situations.

“They are a very smart team on the bases,” Killeen said. “They really know how to run their first-and-third situations.”

Both teams had grown accustomed to pulling out close games in the state tournament.

New Life Academy (22-2) edged Red Lake County 4-3 in the quarterfinals and used a three-run home run by Brady Gunderson in the top of the seventh inning to beat Brandon-Evansville 5-2 in the semifinals.

Springfield (23-4) won its first two state tournament games in its final at-bat. It beat Kimball Area 7-6 in 12 innings on Sam Baeir’s walk-off home run in the first round and New Ulm Cathedral 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh in the semifinals. Baier had three hits against the Eagles.

“This is a testament to our kids,” Darr said. “We were very fortunate to beat three very good teams.”

First report

New Life Academy and Springfield had grown accustomed to pulling out the close one in the state tournament. Monday was no different, except one of them was going home on the short end.

Brad Goulet delivered a one-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving defending state champion New Life Academy a 6-5 victory over the Tigers in the Class1A title game on an overcast day at Target Field.

It was the first extra-inning championship game in Class 1A since 1995 when Crookston defeated Brooklyn Center 4-3 in 10 innings.

Springfield won its first two state tournament games in its final at-bat. It defeated Kimball Area 7-6 in 12 innings in the quarterfinals and New Ulm Cathedral 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh in the semifinals.

New Life Academy edged Red Lake County 4-3 in the opening round and used a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to beat Brandon-Evansville 5-2 in the semifinals.

Check back later for more on the game.