Mea Johnson and her United Township softball teammates had plenty of time to think and prepare as they made the 150-mile trek to Wednesday’s Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Sectional semifinal against the host Boilermakers.

And as fate would have it, the theme of what they discussed on that lengthy bus trip came into play as the second-seeded Panthers erased a late deficit with a three-run top of the sixth inning and Johnson’s second solo home run of the game in the seventh helped UT upset top-ranked Bradley-Bourbonnais 5-3 at the Bradley-Bourbonnais Brickyard.

“Coming into this game we all talked about believing and the power of belief,” Johnson said. “We just had the mindset we were going to get it done. We didn’t step down once we were down. We knew we could come back.”

The Panthers will make another cross-state trek to face the sub-sectional’s other No. 1 seed, Edwardsville, in Saturday’s championship game. The Boilermakers saw their season end at 24-9, their fifth straight season of 20-plus wins and at least one postseason plaque.

The Boilers sat in the driver’s seat for most of the game, taking a 1-0 lead when Elise Munsterman led off the bottom of the second with a homer straightaway to center. After Johnson countered with her first blast in the third, Munsterman scored from second on an errant pickoff throw in the fourth.

But in the sixth, the Panthers found some postseason magic. Miah Berhenke and Reagan Kearns kicked it off with back-to-back singles, and after an Emily Stevens fielder’s choice, Alyse Merrill’s base hit packed the sacks for Addison Mink. Chloe Ledford’s sacrifice fly served as the go-ahead run before a Boilers error with two outs led to the third run of the frame.

“I don’t think we ever felt comfortable, but we’ve always found ways to get it done,” Boilers coach Haylee Austell said. “It’s really unfortunate when it was one inning for us that really started to slip. But I’m so, so proud of the way we played. ... I thought we played really well. I’m really proud of the energy we brought.”

The Boilers got some life when nine-hitter Avery Moutrey reached base for the third time with a solo shot with two outs in the sixth, but Panthers starter Riley Meyers, who pitched the first four innings, returned to the circle to retire the last four Boilers.

Johnson, whose second homer of the evening led off the seventh, couldn’t overstate what a trip to the round of 16 meant to a Panthers program that had won just one other regional title in the past decade.

“This means so much to us,” the senior catcher said. “We’ve been working so hard all season and it means so much. Every day, this has been our dream, to get far in the postseason, and it means a lot.”

Boilers ace Lydia Hammond allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, a walk and three strikeouts in six-plus innings in the final game of her prep career. One of two Bradley-Bourbonnais seniors alongside Evi McIntyre, the Loyola commit graduates as a four-time regional champion, two-time sectional champion and will hope to repeat as a first-team All-Stater.

While success of that caliber hasn’t been a foreign feeling for Austell during her decade leading the program, the Boilers coach hasn’t had many, if any, players bring so much to the team as a whole. And that’s evidenced by the high expectations the Boilers will continue to have for themselves as their program pillar departs.

“I’m just so encouraged by what she brings to the field, but more importantly what she brings to a team,” Austell said. “She’s definitely flipped the mentality for us. I’m really proud of the player, Loyola’s getting a fantastic player, but they’re getting an even better person who makes her teammates better and understands that she’s Lydia Hammond first, then a softball player.”