Henry Sibley has turned a nightmarish season into a dream come true.
The Warriors manufactured just enough offense to upset Benilde-St. Margaret’s 4-1 in the Class 3A semifinals at Siebert Field on Friday, and earn the chance to play for their second state championship.
The victory set up an all Metro East Conference final with Mahtomedi on Monday at Target Field.
“We’re not supposed to be here,” said Warriors third baseman/pitcher Joe Ihrke, who threw four hitless innings of relief of Sam Pressman with five strikeouts and one walk for the victory. “We now believe in ourselves, and aren’t afraid to lose.”
Henry Sibley (14-15) started the season only winning four of its first 18 games. Its only loss since was a 1-0 decision to St. Thomas Academy in the Section 3 tournament.
“We’ve had a rough year, but we’re not going to run away from it,” Warriors coach Greg Fehrman said. “We’re embracing it.”
Everything went the Warriors’ way from the outset. They opened the scoring in the first without a hit. Leadoff hitter Max Buell was hit by a pitch, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on Charley Hesse’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s (18-8) evened it in the second when No. 9 hitter Cole Jacob reached on an error and Jack Qualen followed with a triple down the left-field line.
The Warriors regained the lead with two runs in the fourth when Ihrke was issued a bases-loaded walk and Autyn Garibay-Moryn laid down a suicide squeeze bunt.
Ihrke then switched from third base to pitcher in the bottom half of the frame. He was dominant, retiring the first eight batters he faced before issuing a walk in the sixth. It was the only hitter to reach against him.
“That was the best we’ve seen Joe in a while,” Fehrman said.
Henry Sibley added an insurance run in the fifth on Sam Gantman’s two-out, run-scoring single.
“We have done a good job in situational hitting,” Fehrman said. “I’m not going to overthink what we are doing right. I’m just along for the ride.”
