Ballgame on the line. First state berth in four years on the line. Pro stadium buzzing. Tying run, a bopper, stepping to the plate.

So Crystal Lake South catcher Jackson Lee called timeout.

Conference on the mound, no coaches. Only Lee, starting pitcher Michael Silvius, corner infielders Ryan and John Morgan, shortstop Carson Trivellini and second baseman Nolan Dabrowski were invited.

“I don’t do it often because I trust him so much,” Lee said of Silvius. “But I just called it because it was a high-pressure moment, and I knew he needed a break. [He threw] four straight balls [to the previous batter], so I just gave him a moment out there.”

When play resumed, with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the sixth and Fenwick threatening, Silvius registered a called third strike on cleanup hitter Jeremy Munoz. The junior right-hander then got Elliott Bastedo to fly out to left fielder Wes Bogda, who sprinted and squeezed the ball down the line.

Silvius retired the upset-minded Friars again in the seventh, preserving South’s 4-0 win in Tuesday’s Class 3A Schaumburg Supersectional at Wintrust Field. The victory sends the Gators to state for the first time since 2022, when they finished fourth in Class 3A.

“It’s awesome,” Silvius said after extending his postseason shutout streak to 13 innings. “This is a dream, but we got to keep pushing. The job’s not finished.”

Next for South (29-9) is Friday’s 1 p.m. state semifinal against Troy Triad (35-5) at Slammers Stadium in Joliet. Triad beat Cary-Grove in last year’s third-place game.

Fenwick (14-21), which endured a 10-game losing streak and finished last in the eight-team Chicago Catholic-Blue, committed three errors, which led to three unearned runs.

“We went into [the postseason] like, ‘We know we don’t have a great record, but we know we’re a good team and we know we can make it far,’ “ said third baseman Jimmy Bonakdar, who went 1 for 2 with a walk and a long double to right field in the seventh. “That’s a testament to the guys we had, the togetherness we had, that we were going to overcome a record like that and make it to this field.”

Silvius gave himself the only run he needed with an RBI single in a two-run fourth. One out later, eighth-place hitter Michael Rathjen lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.

“Senior year, getting to go down to state, I’m just trying to do anything I can to win for this team,” the lefty-hitting Rathjen said.

Rathjen finished with two of South’s nine hits, including a bunt single, and made a diving catch in shallow right field to end the second inning. Rathjen and fellow senior Dabrowski were both 2 for 3, while Silvius – who’s hit safely in four straight games – was 3 for 4.

“[Rathjen] is similar to Nolan [Dabrowski] with him hitting left-handed and having speed,” Gators coach Brian Bogda said. “He really can create some problems on the base paths, so I’m excited whenever he gets on base. I’m excited when he comes up to bat.”

Silvius, who pitched six shutout innings against Deerfield in the Grayslake Central Sectional semifinals, had only two 1-2-3 innings. He got Bastedo to hit into a 4-6-3 double play with two on and none out in the fourth, and then got a grounder to shortstop Trivellini to end the threat.

Silvius finished with four strikeout (two walks), all in the last three innings.

“I worked on my curveball all week. Got that down,” said Silvius, who allowed five hits. “I knew they struggled hitting curves, so I wanted to mix it up, throw some off-speed, and really pump them with the fastball. I just made sure I located. I got outside corner, and then I would spin a curveball right by them. Being efficient and having a defense behind me was really a confidence booster.”

With Fenwick trailing 3-0, the Friars’ AJ McConnell doubled with one in the sixth. Silvius then walked No. 3 hitter Ethan Gonzalez (1 for 2) on four pitches – and out walked catcher Lee to the mound, waving in his infielders.

“He’s got to lead the infield as a catcher, tell us what’s going on, and he sees it all behind the plate,” Silvius said. “He came up to me. He’s like, ‘I’m just giving you a breather. I know you got this.’ He was really hyping me up. Everyone around me believes in me, and I believe in them.”

After surviving the sixth unscathed, Silvius finished off a 93-pitch performance in the seventh with a strikeout, after Bonakdar doubled with two out.

“He was good,” Bonakdar said. “He pitched fastball, curveball, mixed it well and made it tough on us all game.”

Silvius’ coach has seen his school’s quarterback step up in the postseason on the mound, at third base and at the plate.

“We talked the other day about him being the quarterback for our football team,” Brian Bogda said. “He’s a good leader in the sense that he has to make plays and decisions on his own on the football field. He’s transferring that over.”