With the slip of his tongue, Brady Wiler coined a motto for the New Bloomfield Wildcats baseball team.
In trying to tell his teammates to focus on the task at hand, the New Bloomfield senior couldn't quite get the phrasing down.
Hence, "one time at a time" was born.
"It was supposed to be one (game) at a time, but I ain't the brightest," Wiler said before Monday afternoon's practice at the high school.
Oddly enough, Wiler's words were spot on.
Wiler unknowingly crafted a rallying cry and Twitter hashtag - #1timeatatime - that's lifted New Bloomfield out of an early-season funk and into position to add to its already rich baseball tradition.
The Wildcats (16-9) - chasing a state-record eighth title and first since 2011 - now turn their attention to the Norwood Pirates (19-8) and tonight's Class 2 semifinal. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon.
Top-ranked Valle Catholic (28-5) will play West Platte (19-5) at 4:30 p.m. in the first semifinal pairing. The Class 2 championship is set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, with the third-place game scheduled for 10:30 that morning.
First-year head coach Justin Forsythe directs New Bloomfield, which will be making its 12th all-time appearance in the state semifinals.
Forsythe recounted his interview for the coaching position with the Wildcats and being asked if he was prepared for the task. His response didn't lack any confidence.
"It's either going to be here or it's going to be somewhere else, but I promise I'm going to win," Forsythe said. "I'm confident in my coaching ability and feel like I can adjust to any player that I get, so I knew I'd be successful, I just don't know when."
However, after six straight losses to begin the season, it didn't look like it'd be here or now for Forsythe and New Bloomfield.
The starting slump left senior center fielder Tucker Lane and senior first baseman Boyd Kempker in a similarly cynical state.
"I thought there was no chance we'd be here (in the final four)," Lane said.
Added Kempker: "The 0-6 start really scared me too, because I didn't know if we'd get out of it."
Despite a successful campaign in the fall season, the Wildcats struggled to find their footing when spring began. Forsythe attributed some of the futility to overconfidence.
"Kids were overlooking things," Forsythe said. "Our first game we played Fulton and we had kids talking about playing Blair Oaks, and we hadn't even played Fulton yet."
None of the Wildcats' first six setbacks were blowouts, with the exception of a 10-0 Show-Me Conference loss at Fatima. Forsythe's team was competitive, but defeated nonetheless.
He began to look inward, doubted his own abilities and sought advice from outsiders on how to adjust. The Farmington native concluded that his methods worked; his way of conveying them, however, didn't.
"The way I was communicating at the beginning of the year wasn't working," Forsythe said. "They weren't understanding it and how to adjust to it, and how to make that adjustment, whether it was in the field or at the plate.
"It wasn't clicking for them."
New Bloomfield players also took ownership of their slump. Senior left fielder Sam Niedergerke noted that he and his teammates hesitated to completely fall in with their coach's defense-first mentality. Stalled and winless, they had no choice but to adapt.
"I think after we went 0-6, we all decided to buy in and listen to what he was saying," Niedergerke said. "Before that, I don't think we wanted to listen; I think we wanted to do it on our own and obviously that wasn't working."
Two days after bowing to state-ranked Linn 2-0, the Wildcats snapped their skid with a 10-7 triumph at Belle on April 13.
"I think we forgot what winning felt like and once we got a taste of it, we wanted more," Kempker said.
There's been a lot of that since then.
The victory over Belle kicked off New Bloomfield's current spurt of 16 wins in its last 19 games. The flurry is due, in large part, to his players' willingness to heed Forsythe's advice, as well as his ability to adapt.
Players come prepared with a plan, both at the plate and in the field. But if a change is needed, Forsythe sees his players have become flexible enough to put themselves in more successful positions.
"We were a team that, in the fall, didn't make adjustments till after the game when we talked about it," Forsythe said. "As the year's gone on ... we've made adjustments on the fly whether it's on a defensive error where we pick our kid up and they come back and get a double play, or if it's at the plate."
In their five-game playoff run, the Wildcats' bats and arms are rolling along at equally optimal levels.
New Bloomfield - batting. 361 for the season - has hit at a .388 clip since the start of district play and is scoring eight runs per contest.
"When you have people up to bat with people on base, you never want to leave them out there," Wiler said. "... It feels like you have more on your shoulders (with men on base), and a lot of us are better hitters when we feel like we have more to do."
Kempker's .468 average paces the Wildcats, followed by junior catcher Derek Shikles (.417), Niedergerke (.416) and Wiler (.405).
Junior Tyler Fennewald has a team-high 23 runs batted in and carries a team-low 2.33 earned-run average on the mound as part of New Bloomfield's starting triumvirate.
Fennewald (4-1) will throw more pitches than desired, but has a knack for working out of trouble.
"He's gutsy," Forsythe said. "I'll tell you, on the mound he's going to work the count full, but he's going to show his guts and get you out."
Junior Clay Jensen (4-4) - the Wildcats' "best overall pitcher," according to Forsythe - leads New Bloomfield in innings pitched (50) and strikeouts (43), and carries a 4.62 ERA.
"(Jensen's) going to make you think from the mound," Forsythe said. "He's going to make you think about what he's throwing, and throw something completely different."
Wiler, in contrast, garnered Forsythe's praise for his ability to not try and out-think opposing batters. He boasts a 4-2 record with a 2.98 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 40 innings.
"He's not going to fool you," Forsythe said. "He's not going to fool you, he's not going to throw it by you, but he'll make you think as well.
"Brady just goes on the mound and just doesn't think, that's probably the best thing I can say about him. He lets the game come to him and handles his business the best way he can."
Norwood enters the semifinals hitting .304 as a team and is sparked by junior Joel Ogletree. The Pirates' first baseman is hitting .500 with seven home runs and 37 RBI, while junior shortstop Weston Chadwell is batting .485 with 19 RBI.
Senior pitcher Dalton Rein has an 8-2 record, a 2.09 ERA and 40 strikeouts, while fellow senior Kyler Hyde is 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA. Ogletree is 2-3 on the year with a team-high 44 strikeouts and a 5.67 ERA.
Forsythe still had more scouting to do of Norwood, but saw no need to stray from what has the Wildcats two games away from the ultimate prize.
"We're going to play this brand of baseball that we're trying to put back in the tradition of New Bloomfield," Forsythe said.
Wiler knows it'll take a little something else to raise the Wildcats' eighth state championship plaque.
"It's not about who wants it," Wiler said. "It's about who wants it enough."