"I was done at that point," Clements said. "I had faith in Josh (Blaum) to get that last out for me."

Faith in both Clements and Blaum has served Mount Pulaski quite well all season.

Clements took a shutout into the sixth inning and Blaum struck out the only four batters he faced as the Hilltoppers blanked University High, 2-0, in the championship game of the Olympia Class A Sectional.

"That was nothing out of the ordinary on the mound other than how big the game was," Clark said.

With its third shutout in four postseason games, fifth-seeded Mount Pulaski claimed the first sectional baseball crown in school history and advanced to Monday's 11 a.m. Illinois Wesleyan Super-Sectional at Horenberger Field against Eureka.

"We've been doing it all year," said Blaum, who doubled and homered among his three hits. "Me, Clements and (John) Foley, no matter who's out there (pitching) we're good to go. We have the same confidence."

The Hilltoppers (26-5-1) needed some confidence in the sixth inning after Clements (9-3) gave up a single to Mike McMillan and walked Jared Wheet and Josh Cox with two outs to load the bases.

Clark walked to the mound where Clements admitted he was tired.

"He honestly told me," Clark said. "That's a big play people don't realize. I was pretty convinced I was going to take him out, but I wanted to ask him how he felt."

Blaum then struck out Collin Reeser to end the inning and fanned three straight batters in the seventh.

"I've been in those situations before," Blaum said. "Mr. Clark says he has faith in me, and I thrive on that."

"He's very confident, oozing with confidence," Clark said of Blaum. "At times he doesn't think the other team can hit him and he almost imposes his will. He did that today."

U High coach Greg Bee lamented his team's 13 strikeouts.

"We need to put the ball in play more often against good pitching. They've got some good pitching," said Bee, whose sixth-seeded team bowed out at 25-11-1. "We had chances, but we couldn't come up with the big hit. We felt like if we put three or four (runs) on the board, we had a great chance to win."

Mount Pulaski broke on top in the second inning on consecutive doubles from Blaum and Clements. Blaum cleared the left-field fence with a solo home run in the fourth.

The Hilltoppers could have had more in the fourth. With the bases loaded and none out, Clements was thrown out at home on a force play, and Craig Erlenbush was tagged out on a failed suicide squeeze bunt attempt. U High reliever Ben Reeser then struck out Tim Milner to close out the inning.

The Pioneers got one-out singles from Wheet and Cox in the second, but Clements responded with strikeouts of Collin Reeser and Andrew McDowell.

"I felt like all my pitches were working pretty well. I got my curve down," said Clements, who struck out nine and walked three. "It feels real great. This is a big win for our team."

A Nick Adams single and a Tyler McNeely hit by pitch gave U High two runners with none out in the fourth. But Adams was picked off second by catcher Chase Lowery on a failed sacrifice bunt, and Clements whiffed the next two hitters.

"We hurt ourselves a lot," Bee said. "They didn't hurt themselves."

Adams (7-1) pitched into the fourth inning and took the loss. Ben Reeser struck out six and walked none over the final three frames.