Click the thumbnails to see photos from the game, and to hear post-game comments from Knights Elliott Kraemer. Also hear the radio replay of Cam Varda's winning hit and of the final out of the game.

EAST LANSING---The mission continues for the Norway Knights baseball team.

The team's best-ever playoff run in the 15-year history of the program will come down to one final showdown on Saturday, after the Knights scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat the Marine City Cardinal Mooney Cardinals, 3-2, at Michigan State University. The Knights will face the defending state champion Beal City Aggies.

But, at least for a few hours Friday night, that wasn't important. It was just guys soaking in a dream experience that is going to continue. The guys, most of whom with Bleach Blonde hair that turned out with varying degrees of success, well, they play on.

Norway's Hayden Amundson summed it up this way:.

“Bleach bandits live another day,” he said.

Cam Varda's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning broke the 2-2 tie brought home Ian Popp with the go-ahead run, and sent the Knights into Saturday's winner-take-all game against the defending state champs.

“I was just thinking, ‘Put the ball in play, score the runner on third.’,” Varda told MHSAA.com.” I just did a short swing, put the ball in play, and scored him.”

“I started off with a single with two outs,” Popp told MHSAA.com. “I was’t really thinking of it, but (my coach) gave me the steal sign and I was going and I looked at him and he said to keep going, so I thought Cameron put the ball in play and had a nice hit,” Popp said. “He told me to slide and I slid and turns out, the ball just went behind the catcher. All in all, it worked out very well.”

The Knights players say they stayed focused after a whirlwind week.

“It's what a lot of kids dream about,” Elliott Kraemer said. “To be able to live this, and to be here for the weekend, it's just a surreal experience. It was a lot of grinding, day-in, day out, for the last three months. Even on days that we were tired, days that we were hot, days that we were cold, we still came out to work to get to this moment.”

“We were flat in practice all week, but we came down and balled-out,” Landon Ross added.

Cole Baij earned the win on the mound for the Knights, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out three in six innings of work. Owen Baij threw the final inning and gave up one hit, but no runs, to get the save.

And now, Norway, has a chance to win it all.

“I'm pretty confident in tomorrow,” Kraemer said. “It should be a competitive game. We've been working hard. We're going to show up for sure and it should be a good one.”

The Norway-Beal City game starts at 1:30 CT/2:30 ET, and it will be broadcast live on WMIQ-AM (1450) throughout Dickinson County, on FM-93.5/AM-600 in Marquette County, and on FM-99.5 and AM-1320 in Marquette County. Also on-line at www.rrnsports.com.