"Our juniors have probably been playing together since they were old enough to hold a baseball in their hand," said Branson, as unranked Russellville (19-13) gets set to battle second-ranked and defending state champion Mansfield (19-6) in the Class 2 semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday at CarShield Field in O'Fallon.

"And some of our sophomores have played up with that class, so they're really familiar with each other. "

Good baseball players who are good friends, it's proven to be a winning combination. But most importantly ...

"They're fantastic young men," Branson said. "They all get along with each other, they give each other a hard time and really kid each other, so they have to have a thick skin. And sometimes, they give the coaches a hard time, too.

"It makes it interesting, we have a great atmosphere on a daily basis."

But playing baseball on a holiday? What about those Memorial Day family cookouts?

"I don't really care," Branson said with a smile.

The pork steaks and bratwurst will have to wait.

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WHILE THE INDIANS ARE IN THE FINAL FOUR for the first time in 12 years, this has not been a smooth, unscathed ride to the semifinals.

^ The Indians lost three of four to start the season;

^ They were pummeled in the Capital City Invitational, losing their four games --- all to much bigger schools --- by a combined 51-13;

^ In mid-April, they went through a 1-4 stretch, with the lone win coming against two-win Tuscumbia;

^ and after losing to Class 4 Pembroke Hill 11-5 on April 28, the Indians were sitting at an uninspiring 10-13.

Obviously, this young team --- experienced or not --- went through some growing pains.

"It was tough, at times," said Branson, 40, who's in his ninth year at the Indians' helm. "I think there were some moments where our confidence level was not where it should have been. But our kids have responded."

Good for them, they didn't get their daubers down --- 51-13 can do that to you.

"We've had a couple meetings," Branson continued, "where we talked about making sure that we kept playing with the best effort we possibly could, and to control the things that we could control. We don't expect perfection, but we want to make sure that we play with perfect effort."

There was another reason for this 13-loss season --- it's safe to say no Class 2 team in the state played a tougher schedule. Take the CC Invitational, when Russellville played Jefferson City (Class 5), Eureka (Class 5), Blair Oaks (Class 4) and Lutheran St. Charles (Class 4).

They weren't just bigger, all were good teams. Branson, however, has no regrets or second thoughts about this schedule.

"I talked to the kids about it at the beginning of the year," he said, "and I told them that for us to get where we wanted to be, we were going to challenge ourselves. There were going to be some bumps and bruises along the way, and that we fully expected to face some adversity.

"But we found a way to kind of harness ourselves and pull ourselves in the right direction at the end of the year."

Indeed. The Indians haven't lost since dropping an 11-5 decision to another bigger school, Class 4 Pembroke Hill, on April 28. The winning streak is at nine and counting.

"Our kids have done a really good job of taking each inning, each at-bat, in stride," Branson said. "There have been moments in this stretch --- especially in the district games and the two state games --- when we were behind, but our kids have taken that step to get to the next level.

"They haven't let a previous at-bat or a previous play affect them, they've moved on to the next pitch and have done a great job of picking each other up."

It hasn't hurt, either, that the Indians have been picking on somebody their own size.

"With what we did from a scheduling standpoint," Branson said, "our kids haven't been overwhelmed by anything they've seen the last month."

Starting on the mound, the staff's ace is just now rounding into form. Roe, the Indians' lone lefthander, missed several starts this season with tightness in his pitching arm.

"We really backed him off from what we expected out of him," Branson said. "We knew we needed him to be close to 100 percent down the stretch, and he's about there."

In limited action on the bump, Roe is 2-1 with one save and a 1.63 ERA.

"He competes ... he expects to put us in a position to win every time he goes out there," said Branson, who will start Roe against Mansfield. "Our kids have that confidence in him, as well."

Morrow is the starting catcher, but he's also a factor on the mound --- 5-5 with one save and a 5.47 ERA. Besides earning the save against Canton, he also finished off the district championship and sectional games.

"He's shown a lot of guts down the stretch," Branson said. "He's been phenomenal getting us out of some tough spots."

Other hurlers in the mix include: Hickey (4-3, 5.71 ERA), Thompson (4-3, 3.90 ERA) and junior Riley Markum (2-1, 3.98).

We'll also start the offensive conversation with Roe. Along with his six home runs, he's batting .330 with eight doubles, three of the team's four triples, and 32 RBI.

"He's really turned it on the last few weeks," Branson said.

Roe bats third and is part of a dynamic stretch in the lineup. How good is it?

"In my opinion," Branson said, "I think we have the best 1-2-3 combination in the state in our class."

Thompson bats first --- "He's been absolutely amazing all year."--- and is hitting.400 with five home runs and 26 RBI, and he leads the team in doubles (11) and runs scored (49).

Stewart bats second and is hitting a team-leading .417 with two home runs, eight doubles, 39 runs scored, and a team-high 33 RBI. And those might not be Stewart's most impressive numbers --- he's walked a team-high 24 times, compared to only two strikeouts.

Two strikeouts in 130 plate appearances.

That's hard to do in t-ball.

"He's probably the best No. 2 hitter I've ever seen," Branson said. "He really works the count until he gets himself in a good situation to hit, and he's able to hit the ball from the left field foul line to the right field foul line. When he gets in the batter's box, he is in control, no doubt."

After missing time with a shoulder injury suffered in basketball, Miller, batting fourth, has returned to hit .389 with three home runs, seven doubles and 26 RBI.

Those four lead the offensive charge, but Branson says the Indians can hurt you 1 thru 9.

"Since we've been on this run," he said, "the bottom of the lineup has done an amazing job, as far as getting on base. We feel like we've got great balance in our lineup."

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REACHING THE FINAL FOUR WASN'T A GOAL born at the start of the season. Nor was it born in the district tournament. It goes back a lot farther than that, as in, a year.

"From the time we got on the bus after we lost to Canton (in the quarterfinals) last year," Branson said, "this is what they expected. They knew if they put in the work and kept the right mindset, this is where we would be."

And all of Russellville is celebrating with them, as the program is making just its second trip to the Final Four in school history (the Indians finished third in 2006).

"I think everybody is obviously thrilled with what we've accomplished," Branson said. "The game Wednesday night here against Canton was a night that everyone's going to remember. Not only the players, but the fans, and being able to celebrate together after the game.

"Our program, we've really tried to establish a family atmosphere over the past several years, and that was kind of a culmination of that."

It also gave Russellville some sweet revenge.

"It meant a lot not only for this team, but for the players who'd had previous losses to Canton in the quarterfinals (2013, 2017)," Branson said. "We had a lot of those former players here, and several of them had come by to talk to the players the day before and also a little bit before the game. So it was special."

Just like this season. And it's only normal for fans to be thinking next year will be special, as well, since the entire roster will return intact.

Well ...

"Like I've told the kids," Branson said, "we need to take this in as much as possible and have as much fun as we possibly can, because nothing's guaranteed. We've worked really, really hard to get to this point and having a team that's looking ahead to next year --- since we're not losing anybody --- there's that mindset that we can do something really special, again.

"But we can't take anything for granted. We have to enjoy this moment."

They should, because they've earned it.

Youth is served: With no seniors

on roster, Indians are in Final 4