Nick Torrence knew that he needed to get something going for Geneva.

With the Vikings already trailing East Peoria heading into their first shot at the plate, the senior knew he had to come to the plate and get the offense going in anyway possible.

And on a full count, a line drive to right field would land him on second base, and junior Alex Abraham would drive him home just a few pitches later.

“We knew the pitcher was a big strike thrower, so I was just trying to see a lot of pitches early in the game and then I just got my bat out there for a line drive,” Torrence said. “I was excited, and I trust everyone of my guys behind me to hit.

“I thought we were going to start rolling, but nothing really came of it.”

Torrence’s run in the first inning would be the Vikings’ lone run of the game, as they saw their historic season come to an end with an 8-1 loss to the Raiders in a Class 3A supersectional at Black Hawk College in Moline.

“Coming out of the golf season and into this season, I felt really great and thought I was going to get in the starting lineup right away,” said Torrence, who wasn’t a regular in the starting lineup until midway through the season. “I finally got it and we just kept winning. It felt like the Chicago Bears, where it just kept going and was never going to stop. But here it is.”

“He’s just a guy who’s gone up the ladder and never complained about what his role was and kept showing up,” Vikings coach Brad Wendell said of Torrence. “We knew his bat could play. Took a little while for it to get going and then it just took off. He played the designated hitter role for us the rest of the way and was a huge part of the offense over the last 20 games.”

All four of the Vikings’ hits came in the first three innings of the game, all with one out. Three of those four hits were directly followed up with an inning-ending double play to shackle any momentum in each of the frames.

“We weren’t waving at a bunch of stuff and we weren’t striking out a whole lot,” Wendell said. “We just had a lot of soft contact and they played good defense, and that stuff just happened.”

After East Peoria took a 5-1 lead through three innings, it was nothing but smooth sailing for pitcher Dalton Oakman, who finished allowing four hits, one run, a walk and two strikeouts before getting pulled with one out in the bottom of the seventh at 74 pitches.

“He didn’t throw the hardest but he changed up his speed really well,” Torrence said. “He just kept us on our toes all game, he was a great pitcher.”

The Raiders, meanwhile, had no trouble hitting against a Vikings pitching staff that entered the game with a collective 2.95 ERA. Jackson Ahrens and Breyon Maroney each recorded three hits at the top of the lineup, while Roman Moody hit a double and triple while scoring three runs from the ninth spot.

“They were just hitting every which way possible, from the hard-hit balls to the stupid bleeders,” Wendell said. “Everything just went their way, so you’ve just got to tip your cap and say we wish we had another day.”

The loss brings an end to a special season for the Vikings, who set the program record for wins in a season with 32, won their first conference title since 2007, first regional title since 2021 and the first sectional title in program history.

“I’m just super proud of all of the hard work that this team took to get to this point,” Wendell said. “We’ve been climbing a little bit over the past few years. A couple years ago we had 22 wins, last year we kind of came out of nowhere with 23 wins and competed for a conference title. You think about all the steps we’ve taken and how exciting it is, it really hurts when it’s all over, because you think you’re going to the next one.

“But I don’t want my guys to hang their head. We did what we were supposed to do in terms of coming to the ballpark every day, and I’m super proud of them. We worked hard to get to this point, and it’s unfortunate, but we’ve got more to get next year.”