Gowanda catcher Jayden Fish, left, celebrates with pitcher Blake Herman after the Panthers' 3-0 victory over Frewsburg in the Section VI Class C championship baseball game at Hamburg High School on Saturday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

HAMBURG — Blake Herman hopped up and down.

Let out a scream.

Tossed off his cap.

Spread his arms wide.

Sprinted toward catcher Jayden Fish, who leaped into his arms.

Gowanda's Blake Herman retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

And then the battery mates spun each other around as they shared a long, celebratory embrace.

It marked the first time in several hours that Herman was NOT in complete control.

The Gowanda senior tossed a one-hit shutout, retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced, and the second-seed Panthers did just enough offensively to hold off No. 1 Frewsburg 3-0 in the Section VI Class C championship baseball game at Hamburg High School on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon.

The win advances Gowanda (20-3) into the Far West Regional at 11 a.m. June 7 against the Section V champion at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia.

It’s right where Herman — the Panthers’ heart and soul — longed to be.

P-J photo by Scott Kindberg Gowanda first baseman Madden Lay fields a groundball during the seventh inning.

“We’re looking to win,” he said postgame. “We’re trying to win a state championship. This is a stepping-stone goal. We want to get the main one.”

Continued strong pitching and defense will certainly help.

“These kids work hard, especially the seniors. They play for each other,” Gowanda head coach Tim Smith said. ” … It’s fun to see a group of kids come through and, honestly, it’s fun to see a group of kids stick with a sport like this. … The seven of them have stuck with it, have played and it shows.”

Frewsburg received a stellar outing from losing pitcher Aidan Gruber, who yielded just two hits and struck out five. But his inability to find command of the strike zone in the wet conditions early in the game proved costly.

After retiring Herman on a first-pitch pop-up to lead off the top of the first inning, Gruber walked Kyan Austin, Carter Capozzi, Logan Ruff and Fish in succession to force in the first run. At that point, the umpires — with the steady rain continuing — sent both teams to their respective dugouts and the game was delayed for 55 minutes. Upon resumption of play, Drew Kota’s fielder’s choice groundout plated the second run to give Gowanda a 2-0 lead.

Frewsburg's Aidan Gruber delivers to the plate. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

As it turned out, it was more than enough, thanks to Herman.

“It was just more of getting ahead of batters. That was the biggest thing,” the right-hander said. “Jayden Fish had a heck of a game back there and the defense made plays for me. All I had to do was throw strikes.”

The Panthers scored their final run in the top of the fourth when Fish reached on an infield single and, two batters later, Madden Lay drilled a two-out RBI single to right field. Armed with a three-run advantage, Herman had more than enough support. His only “mistake” came with one out in the top of the fourth when Frewsburg’s Mason Eckman laced a ball into the left-center field gap for a double. Other than that, the Canisius University-bound Herman was in command. He struck out Maddox Sheesley looking and got Daniel Peterson to bounce back to the mound to end the inning.

“It was crazy,” Herman said. ” … Logan Ruff, our third baseman, came over to me and said, ‘Dude, you almost had a perfect game.'”

All told, Herman struck out four, didn’t issue a walk and threw only 68 pitches, leading Gowanda to its third sectional title in the last five years.

“He was efficient and he was fantastic,” Smith said.

Haglund concurred.

“His presence and command is like no other,” he said. “He’s a great baseball player and he’s going to do great things.”

The Bears, who were seeking their first sectional championship since 2016, completed their season 17-5.

“It was an emotional day for it to be done for (the seniors),” Haglund said, “but most of them aren’t stopping baseball. They’re continuing on and playing, which is a great thing.”