It is something the Champlin Park seniors have dreamt about since they won the VFW state tournament two years ago – taking the Rebels to the state tournament for the first time since 2003.

Tuesday night at CHS field, when senior pitcher Drew Nelson threw the final strike in Champlin Park’s 4-2 win against Totino-Grace, the dreams became a reality and the Rebels were Class 4A, Section 5 champions, with a shot at a state title.

Eagles catcher Jen Rataczak swung and missed at a Nelson fastball, and just as quick as Rataczak fell to the ground in disbelief his season was over, the 6-foot-2 righthander jumped in the air in excitement.

“I threw like 10 pitches in that final at-bat, and he kept fouling them off," Nelson said. “I finally buried one on his inside hand, and it felt great because everyone started running out (of the dugout).”

Nelson’s fifth strikeout is sending the Rebels to the state tournament, but it was his one allowed hit in 4 1/3 innings that kept Totino-Grace from generating any offensive momentum.

In a game where Champlin Park scored three of its four runs on two sacrifice flies and one Totino-Grace error, the Rebels needed every pitch they got from Nelson.

He entered the game in the second inning with top-seeded Champlin Park trailing 1-0 and caused issues for Eagles batters with a mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches.

“He’s usually our closer,” coach Cory Davis said of Nelson, “And he’s not used to throwing a lot of innings but clearly he can.”

The Rebels, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by Lets Play Baseball, built off its momentum from its 9-1 win over second-seeded Totino-Grace earlier in the night.

Davis said the decision to pitch Nelson in the evening’s first game helped his senior hurler prepare for a high pitch count in game two.

Totino-Grace combined for 12 hits in two games compared to Champlin Park’s 23 and struggled to score with runners in scoring position in both games.

“(The Rebels) are just really good, but I thought our guys came out and battled in the second game after getting a little beat up in the first one,” Eagles coach Mike Smith said. “We hung in there, and that was a good game.”

Totino-Grace put the top-ranked Rebels in the loser’s bracket last week by beating the Eagles 5-1.

But Davis said the Champlin Park has had a saying all year, and tonight the Rebels proved it true.

“These guys joke around, but I don’t think they are joking when they say they don’t fold,” Davis said. “We had plenty of chances to do that because Totino-Grace is a heck of a baseball team.”

Champlin Park senior pitcher Drew Nelson allowed one hit and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday night at CHS Field in the second game of the Class 4A, Section 5 championship as the Rebels defeated Totino Grace 4-2 to advance to the state tournament.

The 6-foot-2 righthander entered the game in the second inning with top-seeded Champlin Park trailing 1-0, and didn’t allow the second-seeded Eagles to get anything going offensively, as Nelson used a mix of speeds to cause issues for Totino-Grace all night.

Zachary Jezierski pitched six innings and allowed two runs on eight hits on the mound for the Eagles

The Rebels, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by Lets Play Baseball, built off their momentum from a 9-1 win over Totino-Grace earlier in the night in Game 1 to advance to its first state tournament since 2003.