The South Division squads appeared to be an afterthought entering the 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament on May 9 and 10. Monmouth came into the tourney having lost nine of 13, while host Knox did not reach double-digit overall victories until it earned the hosting rights with a pair of wins in the MWC South Playoff on April 27. Meanwhile, Ripon had tallied 25 wins and a national top 25 ranking before dropping three of four to St. Norbert in its regular-season conference series finale, giving the Green Knights the North title and 24 victories.

The Prairie Fire (15-23) made themselves relevant on Saturday with an unprecedented tournament run that ranks among the great underdog achievements in league history. Knox won the 2008 MWC Championship, its fourth overall and first since 1993, and the conference’s automatic qualifier to the 2008 NCAA Tournament with three wins, including 4-2 and 5-4 wins over Ripon in the finals. No team in conference history had ever come from the loser’s bracket and won the two title games since the double-elimination conference tourney format was instituted in 1989.

The Prairie Fire setup the historic sweep when they eliminated St. Norbert in Saturday’s morning contest after scoring four runs in the top of the 10th inning to register a 6-2 extra inning win.

The story of the tournament was the coming of age of the Prairie Fire pitching staff, as a contingent of six pitchers, including three freshmen, combined to throw every inning of the tourney. The group combined to limit the St. Norbert and Ripon offenses, whose 2008 editions both rank in the top 5 in conference history in runs scored, to 10 total earned runs in four games. Freshman Jordan Ball (13.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 save) and junior Sammy Almohandis (9.2 IP, 0 ER) made three appearances apiece during the two-day tournament, as Almohandis earned a win and two saves with no earned runs allowed. Freshman Colin Davis (8.2 IP, 5 ER), sophomore Spencer McNeil (1-0, 4.1 IP, 1 ER) and freshman Justin Cutter (1-0, 7.0 IP, 6 ER) made two appearances each, while sophomore Aaron Juarez was the winner in the first finals contest against Ripon after tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless ball in relief. Ball was on the mound for the final out of the tournament, as he highlighted three innings of hitless relief by striking out Bryant Bullock to give Knox the title. Juarez and Cutter’s respective finals victories over Ripon were the first wins of the season for both players.