Entering the Class 2A state baseball semifinals, many thought Resurrection Christian had the decided edge in pitching against Custer County.

Custer County's Jason Frink proved otherwise, firing a two- hit shutout in a 10-0 win Friday at the Runyon Sports Complex, propelling the Bobcats into the state title game for the first time since 2001.

Frink allowed only four base runners in the first five innings but didn't surrender a hit until Jordan Piche doubled to lead off the sixth.

Frink said the effort was doubly nice: It allowed the Bobcats to forget being shut out in the semifinals last season, and he pitched well in front of friends.

"It was huge, because we were here last year and we came up against a pitcher that shut us down," Frink said. "To come here and redeem ourselves, and all of the former (Custer County) players were watching us, it was huge."

The Bobcats offense scored in every inning but the second, and it knocked out Cougars ace Tyler Lohr in the fourth. Fellow Resurrection Christian standout Dustin Stallings got tagged for three runs in the fifth, before Lucas Carls came in the sixth and allowed two more.

Resurrection Christian had played against Class 3A and 4A teams this season, but Stallings said Custer County was the best hitting team he had seen.

"They came out to ready to hit," Stallings said. "It's hard to pitch against a team that is that hot."

In the second semifinal, Jefferson Academy avenged a loss to Paonia in the final four last season, eliminating the Eagles 9-4 to advance to its first state championship game.

The Jaguars scored five times in the third inning and four times in the fourth, with Joey Younkerman doing most of the damage. He had a two-run single with the bases loaded in the third, then in the fourth, with the bases loaded again, he smacked a double down the right-field line to clear the bases.

He finished 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBI, but he didn't take all the praise for the win.

"People got on and we tried to move them on the bases," Younkerman said. "Xavier (Lewis) threw a great game for us; he had a shutout going until the sixth inning."

Custer County201 232 - 10 12 2

Resurrection Christian000 000 - 0 2 2

CC (ab-r-h-rbi) - Ben Mullett ss 4-0-0-1, Aaron Mullett 2b 3-2-1-0, Kyle Hershberger 3b 4-3-3-1, Freddie White 1b 4-2-3-0, Corey Barnes c 3-1-2-1, Rusty Caldwell lf 2-0-1-1, Jeb Stoltzfus rf 3-0-0-0, Jason Frink p 2-0-1-0, John Barratt cr 0-1-0-0, Kyle Lewsader cf 2-1-1-2. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Frink 6-2-0-0-1-5.

RC - Dustin Stallings ss/p/ss 3-0-0-0, Jordan Piche 2b 3-0-1-0, Jonny Swett cf 3-0-0-0, Lucas Carls c/p 2-0-1-0, Chaz Moore 3b 3-0-0-0, Tyler Lohr p/ss/c 2-0-0-0, Adam Boettger 1b 2-0-0-0, Adam Haag lf 2-0-0-0, Micah Williams rf 1-0-0-0. Pitching - Lohr (L) 4-6-5-4-3-2, Stallings 1-4-3-3-1-1, Carls 1-2-2-2-1-0.

E - Piche, Lohr, B. Mullett, Hershberger. 2B - Piche, Hershberger. SB - A. Mullett, Hershberger, Barnes, Lewsader. CS - Stoltzfus. SAC - Caldwell. GIDP - Stoltzfus. HBP - Williams.

Jefferson Academy005 400 0 - 9 8 1

Paonia000 002 2 - 4 6 3

P - Ruben Mendoza cf 3-1-0-1, Skyler Bissell ss 4-1-2-1, Jon Smith lf 3-0-0-1, Brad Todd 1b 2-0-1-1, Casey Gillenwater dh 3-0-1-0, Eddie Pitt p 3-0-0-0, Ryan Bradley 3b 3-0-0-0, Ben Gillespie rf 3-1-1-0, Luke Wiggins 2b 3-1-1-0, K.C. Martin c 0-0-0-0. Pitching - Pitt (L) 2-3-5-4-2-1, Todd 3-4-0-4-1-4, Smith 2-1-0-1-0-3.

JA - Xavier Lewis p/cf 3-1-0-1, Tommy Staudt ss 2-2-0-0, Joey Younkerman 4-2-3-5, Zach Coisman rf/2b 4-0-0-0, Christian Naylor 3b 4-0-2-1, Bryant Anderson 2b/p 3-0-0-0, Chris Johnson c 3-0-0-0, Fletcher Johnson dh 3-1-0-0, Danny Williams lf 2-2-0-0, Mike Ferrero cf/rf 0-0-0-0. Pitching - Lewis (W) 5-2-2-2-2-4, Anderson 2-2-2-4-1-1.

E - Staudt, Bissell, Bradley (2). 2B - Younkerman, Bissell, Todd. SB - Younkerman. HBP - Anderson. SAC - Johnson, Smith.