As soon as Seven Lakes head coach Jeremy Arterburn saw Travis Berra pitch through the first inning on Monday, he knew it was going to be a good day.

Monday was a make or break day for the Spartans season, as they were in a play in game with Taylor for the fourth and final playoff spot out of District 19-6A. It could have been a nervous moment for any team and any pitcher, but Berra immediately calmed any nerves among the Seven Lakes players and did his thing all night, pitching a one-hit shutout to lead Seven Lakes to an 11-0 run rule win over the Mustangs, giving the Spartans a playoff berth for the second straight season.

“It’s been like that all year for us, in big moments, Travis has stepped up,” Arterburn said. “He was composed and focused and I could see it from the get go that we was going to have a great day. It was just an awesome performance from Travis and I’m so proud of him.”

The Spartans pitching was hot from the get go and the offense was as well, although it took three innings for the Spartans to get runs across, Seven Lakes loaded the bases in the first and got a runner on again in the second but were unable to get anything out of it. Then, in the third ining the Spartans offense exploded.

Nate Johnson started things with a long double into the left field gap that plated the Spartans first run and Carter Nannini kept things going with a single of his own to bring in a second run. Ethan Hernandez drove in two with a single and then Paden Reynolds had an RBI single of his own as Seven Lakes plated five runners in the third inning.

“We just grabbed all that momentum, when we get our leadoff guy on, we just keep going and going and we know what we need to do,” said senior center fielder Taylor Tiedt. “We really embrace small ball and we do all those things to keep runners moving over, overall we just played amazing and I’m so proud.”

The Spartans kept things going in the fourth, they got their first run of the inning off an error and Nannini drove in a run after he was hit by a pitch. Tiedt followed that up with a two-run single before Reynolds brought in two more with a single of his own as Seven Lakes lead grew to 11. Berra then pitched a clean top half of the fifth to seal the game and give the Spartans the win.

“I just calmed myself before the game and tried to treat it like any other game,” Berra said. “I just trusted my stuff, went out there and dealed. I knew how important this was and it was just amazing to help my team today. There’s no better feeling than getting to the playoffs except for winning in the playoffs.

The Spartans advance to play the No. 4 ranked team in the state in Ridge Point in the bi-district round, and while the Spartans may be an underdog, it’s a role they’re embracing.

“This is all them,” Arterburn said. “You have Coach (Royal) Thomas and he’s amazing with the guys, my whole staff is amazing and then the kids stepped up in big moments. I’m just proud of them all. These guys are ready for it and let’s go see what happens.”