YANKTON - Thirty-five miles from where the first pitch was thrown was where the last out was made, giving St. Thomas More its first state baseball championship two years into its existence.

The Class B state tournament started in Freeman at Merchants State Bank Field, but almost five innings through the championship game a massive downpour flooded the field to force Stickney/Mount Vernon/Hanson/Ethan and St. Thomas More to travel south on US-81 and finish at Riverside Field in Yankton.

After another small rain delay in Yankton, the game finally finished exactly where it left off in Freeman to give the Cavaliers a 6-3 win and the Class B state championship.

"I've played a lot of baseball and I've never seen anything like this," St. Thomas More head coch Jeff Pekny said of switching fields on the same day. "These were some different circumstances and the kids did a good job of keeping focused and playing through it."

During the fifth inning, the Cavaliers scored three runs on three consecutive RBI hits by Nolan Johnson, Tyler Richardson and Spenser Braun. With two out and runners on first and second, the rain delayed the game in Freeman, and it was eventually announced 20 minutes later the game would be moved.

Jeremy Kudrna started the game for the Cavaliers, and he even returned to the mound after the delay and change of venue. He pitched six innings, allowed three runs and struck out eight Knight batters, three of which came in Yankton.

He struck out the first two batters after moving to Riverside and never got his team in trouble after taking the three-run lead.

"Normally I would take out my pitcher after a delay like this," Pekny said. "But (Kudrna) said he was feeling alright and we came back with him."

St. Thomas More scored the first run of the game in the second when Johnson led off with a double down the right field foul line, and he scored on Braun's RBI single to deep left center.

The Cavaliers, who defeated Tri-Valley in the semifinals, added two more in the third when the first two batters of the inning reached on singles and Johnson and Richardson each had RBI outs.