A-P advances to a district final rematch with West Marshall in State Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Grundy Center bows out at 15-7.

The Spartans committed four errors, including a costly infield error in the third inning after a two-RBI hit from Preston Janssen. Janssen took second on the throw home from the Spartans defense, and the throw to try to get him out at second went high and into the outfield, allowing Janssen to score an error-assisted inside-the-park home run.

“They’re mistakes, they’re not intentional, but it boils down to at this level of play, you’ve got to make the plays or you won’t stick around for the next game,” Grundy Center head coach Pat Brown Jr. said.

Outside of a Pete Lebo RBI single in the fifth inning, the Spartans did themselves few favors against A-P starter Devin Davis, leaving 10 on base against the Falcon ace.

“We had the same amount of hits, but their hits came in times when they needed them and ours, we weren’t able to manufacture runs out of them,” Brown Jr. said.

Hayden Geerdes was 2-for-3 at the plate for the Spartans.

Brayden Davie struck out three with one hit batter, no walks and five runs — only one earned — on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings.

“Davie’s picked up the slack after Tate [Jirovsky] and Ryker [Thoren] got hurt,” Brown Jr. said. “He was ready to go tonight but our guys didn’t always make the plays behind him. … We have that one bad inning and you have to play catch up, it’s too hard.”

Brown Jr. said the Spartans kept their heart in it, even after losing some of their best arms in Jirovsky and Thoren.

“They were fighting to the end, they didn’t want to throw in the towel,” Brown Jr. said. “We got a guy to third there in that last inning, and we literally went out swinging.”

It was the final game for seniors Tanner Laube, Colin Gordon and Tate Jirovsky. All three will play sports at the collegiate level next fall.

“Those are guys that have contributed for four years and shown what happens when you do the right things, when you’re coachable, when you want to be successful,” Brown Jr. said. “Those guys definitely brought a competitive edge to the dugout.”