Putnam County senior Traxton Mattingly grabbed the plaque, lifted it high over his head and jumped back toward his teammates.

The rest of the Panthers leapt up and down as they mobbed around him.

Then the Panthers took the celebration outside the fence with family, friends and fans.

Maddox Poole was doused with water by friends.

Eli King wore the player of the game chains.

There were lots of hugs, handshakes and high-fives.

The plaque was passed around for photos, so many photos that one PC player joked his cheeks hurt from smiling.

Everyone wanted to celebrate and document the moment that many likely didn’t anticipate when the season began.

Putnam County defeated Galena 7-4 in the Class 1A Northern Illinois University Supersectional on Tuesday to earn its first trip to the state tournament since 2013 and seventh overall.

“It’s insane,” Poole said. “I think we expected to compete all year, but I don’t know if anybody expected us to get this far.

“It’s good to be put in the history books with everybody else. It’s pretty cool.”

The Panthers (25-11) advance to play North Clay co-op (35-4) in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday at Illinois Field in Champaign.

“I’m expecting to compete,” Poole said. “Win or lose, I think we’re coming to compete.”

The Panthers competed Tuesday.

After the Pirates scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning on two hits, two walks and a hit batter to take a 3-2 lead, Putnam County responded immediately.

In the bottom of the inning, Carter Hochstatter singled up the middle to lead off and later scored on a single by King to tie the game.

“That was very important,” King said. “Instead of being down one and having low morale, it just resets to 0-0, and it’s a whole new ballgame. I feel like that was favorable for us.”

After starting pitcher Kade Zimmerlein hit the first batter of the fifth inning, Poole came on in relief and retired the first three batters he faced.

“I knew I was probably going to be the first one out of the pen today,” Poole said. “My offspeed was a little off to start, but I settled in as the game went on. I was just trying to pump the zone and go right at them. I knew my defense had my back.”

The Panthers broke it open in the bottom of the fifth with a four-run inning.

Jonathon Stunkel, Zimmerlein and Poole hit three consecutive singles to start the inning, with Poole’s scoring Stunkel.

Hochstatter brought in a run with a fielder’s choice, and Poole scored when a pitch got away from the catcher before King laid down a squeeze bunt to plate the fourth run.

“A hot team is a dangerous team,” Putnam County coach Chris Newsome said. “I feel like we’re pretty hot offensively. Hopefully, we’re going to keep that rolling into the state tournament.”

Poole threw a perfect sixth then closed it out in the seventh. After a leadoff double, Poole got a groundout, sacrifice fly and another groundout to end it.

“Kade battled,” Newsome said. “He probably wasn’t as sharp (as usual). He would probably tell you that, but he did enough to get us four strong innings.

“Maddox did a phenomenal job of just throwing strikes and letting our defense work. He’s competed all year long. The moment’s not too big for him, so he’s the right man for that spot.”

The Panthers took an early lead when Mattingly led off the first inning with a walk, moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Stunkel’s single. Zimmerlein followed with a single to plate Stunkel.

Stunkel, Zimmerlei, Poole and King had two hits each. Stunkel had two runs and an RBI, Zimmerlein and Poole each had a run and and RBI, and King drove in two runs.

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Putnam County's Traxton Mattingly celebrates with teammates after scoring the first run of the game Tuesday, June 9, 2026, during their IHSA Class 1A supersectional game against Galena at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. (Mark Busch)