Jameson Walsh wasn’t about to let that happen in 2023.

The junior right-hander tossed a two-hitter, struck out 15 and helped his own cause with a two-run double to send the Trojans, the eighth seed, to a 3-0 victory over the ninth-seeded Mustangs in a Class B2 prequarterfinal on Monday at Packard Field.

The win advances Southwestern (10-7) into today’s 5 p.m. quarterfinal at No. 1 Springville/West Valley (14-1).

That doesn’t leave the Trojans much time to savor last evening’s win, but they certainly had to feel good about their performance on their home field.

Trojans’ Brody Larson catches a line drive in the sixth inning that ended up as a double play. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

It started with Walsh, who pitched 6 2/3 innings before giving way to Lucas Gilbert. With the tying run at the plate, he needed just one pitch to record the final out of the game.

“Coming into it, I knew I had to pitch big,” Walsh said. ” … I figured if I threw strikes, I knew I had a great team to make plays and I came away with the ‘W.’

“It was a tough spot (for Gilbert) to come in, but he located his pitch.”

And who knows what would have happened had center fielder Brody Larson not made a fine catch of a line drive in the sixth inning that he turned into a double play that stopped a Medina (9-7) rally and preserved Walsh’s pitch count.

“It was a huge play in the game,” Southwestern coach Jared Brown said.

Southwestern opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Dustin Hendrix tripled with one out off losing pitcher Aiden Paul. Hendrix would then score on a wild pitch. The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Walker Perry led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on Hendrix’s infield single and they both scored on Walsh’s double.

“It was a hanging curveball,” Walsh said of his line drive to right-centerfield. “I saw it and my eyes lit up.”

As it turned out, that was all the offensive support he needed as he survived a leadoff double by Aiden Papaj and a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but Gilbert retired the final batter on one pitch to send Southwestern to a meeting with Springville/West Valley today.

“Obviously, they’re a very good team,” Brown said. “We’re not going to take anyone lightly going forward.”

NOTES: Paul also pitched a gem for Medina, yielding just four hits and striking out 12 … The Mustangs’ only hits were both by Papaj, a second-inning single and the leadoff double in the seventh. … Hendrix had two of Southwestern’s hits, while Walsh and Perry each had one. … Walsh walked seven, while Paul didn’t issue any free passes.