The 10th-ranked Xavier Saints were supposed to have a "laugher" against lowly Waterloo East in the opening round of the Class 4A substate baseball tournament Friday night.

The Trojans almost made the Saints cry instead.

Xavier needed a four-run outburst in the top of the seventh inning to break away from Waterloo East for an 8-3 victory at Ken Charipar Field.

Waterloo East entered the game with an ugly 2-36 record, but the Trojans gave the Saints all they could handle.

Leading just 4-3 going into the seventh inning, Xavier scored four runs on a one-out walk to Zach Brown and four consecutive singles by Jordan Ratz, Luke Hammerberg, Ryan Meaney and Jake Harriott to put the game away.

Mitch Keller pitched a complete game for Xavier for the victory.

“Four to three was the score after six innings,” Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel noted after the tense victory. “That was too close."

The Saints (24-15) are the No.1 seed in their substate and now get a second-round bye on Monday night. They will host the substate finals next Wednesday night against either sixth-ranked Prairie (26-12) or Marshalltown (17-24).

Ratz led the Saints with three hits and Hammerberg, Meaney and Keller each had two.

“I was just looking to hit the ball hard and make solid contact,” said Ratz. “I wanted to make something happen.”

“I came up short with runners in scoring position earlier in the game,” said Hammerberg. “I needed to deliver in the seventh and help take stress off of Keller.”

Xavier scored two runs in the third inning with an RBI double by Corbin Woods and a sacrifice fly by Zack Brown. The Saints added one run in the fourth and another in the fifth.

Keller scattered six hits and struck out 10 batters.

“I felt good about the first four innings,” he said. “I didn’t feel so good about the fifth and sixth, but my defense helped me out and when we scored four in the seventh, that took care of it.”

Schemmel was relieved to get the victory and advance.

"Hammerberg and Harriott got key hits in that four-run seventh and Ratz has been hitting the ball real well, especially in the second half of the season,” he said. “At this point in the season, we just need to execute and make the other team earn whatever they get.”

XAVIER (8): Grimm, cf, 3 0 1 1, Woods, ss, 4 1 1 1, Pick, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Brown, 3b, 2 1 0 1, Ratz, rf, 4 1 3 0, Miller, 0 1 0 0, Hammerberg, c, 3 0 2 1, Drahozal, cr, 0 1 0 0, Meaney, lf, 4 2 2 1, Helms dh, 2 0 0 0, K.Dlouhy, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Harriott, ph, 1 0 1 1, Keller, p, 4 0 2 0, Clarahan, cr, 0 1 0 0.  Totals 30 8 12 6.

WATERLOO EAST (3): Magnusson, p, 3 1 1 0, Rosauer, c, 3 0 0 1, Scribner, ss, 3 1 0 0, Lindquist, 3b, 3 0 2 0, Schutte, 1b, 4 0 3 1, Kinnetz, cf, 3 0 0 0, Howard, 2b, 2 1 0 0, Merron, ph, 1 0 0 0, Pries, rf, 2 0 0 0, Clemenson, lf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 26 3 6 2.

Xavier              002 110 4 - 8 12 2
Waterloo East   000 021 0 - 3 6 5

Keller and Hammerberg. Magnuson and Rosaur. W - Keller. L - Magnuson. 2B - Woods. SB - Grimm 2, Magnuson, Kinnetz.