“It says a lot about the seniors because honestly, it really started with them in the dugout,” Madonna coach Jeff Baire said after Monday’s win. “You never want to lose, you never want to put yourself in a position where you have to battle through. However, on the other side, it happened to us last year when Wheeling Central got hot, came in and beat us twice (in the section championship). We had the opportunity to do the same thing and I can’t say enough about the guys.”

Madonna came into the section championship needing two wins against the Dragons in order to claim the section title. A 20-9 victory on Saturday forced a winner-take-all game on the Dragons’ home field Monday night. After trailing by three runs throughout the game and sitting through a 30-minute weather delay, the Blue Dons exploded for a 12-run sixth inning that propelled them to their first section championship since 2012.

“We don’t do anything easy,” Baire laughed. “A couple of errors in the first inning and we go down three runs and have to battle back the whole way. We battled, it’s what we’ve done all year.”

Two Blue Don errors and a double steal gave Cameron a 3-0 lead after the first inning. With their ace, Coy Angel, on the mound, the Dragons were feeling good about their chances.

“We were where we wanted to be coming into the game,” explained coach Adam Angel. “We had the pitching set up the way we wanted and then came out and scored three runs early and we were sitting in the driver’s seat.”

Coy Angel had already gotten the Blue Dons a couple of times this season, including in the OVAC Class A championship, where he struck out nine batters over five innings in a 6-5 Cameron win.

Baire said the gameplan Monday was to work counts to try and elevate Angel’s pitch count and get into Cameron’s bullpen as soon as possible.

“That was our main goal, that’s what we talked about (Monday) and what we talked about after the game on Saturday,” Baire said. “When you’re facing guys that are buzzsaws, you really have to work them, and if you’re able to push the pitch count up and get into the bullpen, then it’s all bets are off.”

Following the three-run first inning, Madonna turned the ball over to left-hander Marquese Parker, who has been rock-solid in relief for the Dons this season. Parker held the Dragons to two runs across 4 1/3 innings of work — his longest appearance of the season — to keep his team in the game.

“I wanted to try to hold them,” Parker said. “Give up no more runs and give my team a chance to come back with hits.”

A Lance Hartley double in the bottom of the third gave the hosts a 4-0 advantage before Matt Amaismeier hit a bases-loaded single in the top of the fourth to get Madonna on the board and make it a 4-2 game. Hartley singled home another run in the bottom of the inning to maintain a three-run lead.

Madonna’s plan against Angel had worked, however, as Coach Angel made a move to the bullpen with one out in the top of the fifth. As he brought Hartley to the mound to warm up however, the home plate umpire called for a 30-minute weather delay due to thunder in the area with the score still sitting at 5-2.

“I felt like we were having good at bats even with Coy in there,” Baire said. “We pushed his pitch count up and were fouling off a lot of good pitches. That’s what we talked about.”

When play resumed, Lucas McAllister immediately hit a double down the left field line that scored David Connors and Cameron’s lead was down to one run.

After Parker threw a scoreless bottom of the fifth, Madonna’s bats broke out in a major way in the sixth inning.

After loading the bases with just one out, Brycen Hair hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice as the tying run scored when a throw home was not in time, tying the game 5-5. Connors followed with a swinging bunt that died in the infield, allowing him to reach first base safely and give Madonna a 6-5 lead, its first of the game. From there, the Blue Dons were off to the races. McAllister drew a bases-loaded walk, Luke and Matt Amaismeier had back-to-back RBI singles, and Brock Reinarcher and Hair had consecutive two-run hits to complete a 12-run top of the sixth.

“Hats off to them, they just don’t quit,” Coach Angel said of Madonna. “No lead is ever good enough with them. They grit it out, they fight and they battle. I watched them do it to (Wheeling) Central the other night and they did it to us twice. They just figure out a way to win.”

Chase Littleton got the final two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning as Madonna picked up the 15-5 mercy-rule victory.

Parker picked up the win throwing 4 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and two runs while striking out six.

“Marquese has been doing that all year for us; coming in for us in tough situations and working his way through,” Baire said. “He messaged me last night saying he wanted the ball. He definitely got his opportunity and didn’t waste it.”

Matt Amaismeier led the team with four RBI on two singles, following up his eight RBI game on Saturday.

“He just doesn’t want to lose,” Baire said. “He did the same thing in basketball. That’s a senior right there.”

Hair finished with a single, double and three RBI while Reinarcher drove in two on a single. Seven of Madonna’s nine starters drove in a run in the contest and all nine spots in the order scored at least once.

For Cameron, Coy Angel struck out seven across 4 2/3 innings, yielding three runs on four hits.

“Coy’s been our leader on and off the field,” Coach Angel said of his son. “To have him come up short is pretty tough because I know, on the personal side of it, what it meant to him. He’s got them twice and they finally got him today.”

Hartley drove in three runs on a single and double.

After playing in the losers’ bracket for the past week, Madonna will no longer be one loss away from elimination, as the Blue Dons advance to the Region 1 Championship Series against either Tyler Consolidated or Williamstown.

“As a team, we’ve come together as one instead of as individuals,” Parker explained. “That’s been pushing us down the line.

“(Playing elimination games) is stressful, but seeing the smiles on our faces and knowing we can still play ball is amazing.”

Class A, Region 1, Section 1 Championship

Madonna 15, Cameron 5, 6 Innings

M 0-0-0 2-1-12 — 15 11 4

C 3-0-1 1-0-0 — 5 5 0

MADONNA — Grishkevich (0K, 2BB), Parker wp (2) (6K, 3BB), Littleton (6) (0K, 1BB) and McAllister. Grishkevich 2S, rbi; L. Amaismeier S, rbi; M. Amaismeier 2S, 4rbi; Reinacher S, 2rbi; Hair S, D, 3rbi; Connors S, rbi; McAllister D, 2rbi.

CAMERON — C. Angel (7K, 5BB), Hartley lp (5) (1K, 4BB) and A. Angel. Hartley S, D, 3rbi; C. Angel D, S. Ball D.