Thompson, who was working in relief, had just recorded a 1 2/3 inning save after Blackburn, Big Red’s ace, had ran out of gas in the fifth during Thursday’s Division II, Region 7 semifinal at Indian Valley. And the out sealed a 6-3 win for Big Red over New Philadelphia and trip to today’s regional championship.

The greeting, though, was symbolic of something even bigger — how the adversity the team faced all season has bonded it together when it has mattered most, picking each other up and finding a ways to win.

“There’s something about these guys,” veteran Big Red coach Fred Heatherington said. “We’ve got great team chemistry and they don’t let each other get down … we’re together and we enjoy being with each other and we play hard.

“Nobody cares who gets it done, as long as we get it done. It doesn’t matter how we won, the important thing is that we won.”

Blackburn, who had allowed just one unearned run in going the distance in his last three starts — the last two of which were in the tournament — got through five innings with just an unearned run in the first allowed and his team on top 6-1, having fanned five.

With one out in the sixth, however, the Quakers (16-11) were not going to go away quietly. Blackburn issued his only two walks of the game and New Philly cut the deficit down to 6-3 with a run on a passed ball and a Maddox Brown RBI double.

Heatherington gave the ball to Thompson, thew senior who threw a complete game shutout in last week’s East District Championship, with two men on and the Quakers looking to make it a one-run game, and he got out of it with a strikeout and a routine grounder.

Thompson struck out another and put up a zero in the seventh to close it out.

“Coop ran out of a little bit of gas, the key was keeping them to two runs (in the inning),” Heatherington said. “We battled and J.T. came in and shut the door.”

After New Philly’s unearned run in the top of the first, Big Red answered right back in the bottom half with a Blackburn RBI groundout.

In the bottom of the third, Steubenville (17-11) jumped ahead for the first time and would not look back.

After Big Red loaded the bases with one out, another Blackburn RBI groundout made it 2-1, then a Hakim Edwards drive into the outfield plated a pair to make it a 4-1 Steubenville lead.

Edwards added another RBI in the bottom of the fifth with a sac fly, senior DH Kye Fleming adding an RBI to make it a 6-1 game.

“At the plate, we got the big hits at the right times,” Heatherington said. “Hakim got a big hit. Putting six runs on the board against two good pitchers is good.”

While the Quakers did not go away, Thompson was able to close the door.

“These guys got here because they didn’t stop battling, and I didn’t expect anything less than us to keep battling (Thursday),” New Philly coach Tyler Weisel said. “We ran out of time. Maybe if we play nine, maybe it’s different, but that’s not how this works. It’s going to (stink) tomorrow not waking up and putting together a line up, this was a great group of kids and a fun ride.

“Big Red was exactly what I expected them to be. They’re gritty, they play the game the right way and they come up big in big situations.”

Big Red will face Bishop Hartley in today’s Region 7 Championship at Teays Valley in Ashville. The Hawks, who are 18-7 on the season, defeated Washington C.H., 5-2, in the other semifinal on Thursday.