SPRINGFIELD, ILL -- By the time Conor McCaffrey and Sasha Vanderkecha had stomped on home plate the regional final between Our Savior's and Rochester had already been stamped among one of the greatest IESA thrillers in Illinois history.

Twice down to their last strike, the Our Savior's Eagles somehow rallied.

And when McCaffrey completed a startling series of comebacks with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to beat Rochester 10-9 on Friday night, the Eagles realized something special was on the horizon.

"You had to be here to believe it," OS/Laketown manager Josh Vanderkecha said.

McCaffrey saved Our Savior's with a two-strike, two-out, two-run triple off the Rockets closer that tied it in the sixth. In the 7th, after Parker Gillespie had homered to give Rochester a two-run lead, Jace Easley's two-strike, two-out single tied it at 9-9.

After the banged-up Gillespie's two-run homer in the 7th, Our Savior's again tied it when Easley hit a two-out single on a 2-2 pitch, sending the ball screaming back up the middle.

The game being played at Rochester High School was still in a frenzy when McCaffrey opened the 8th with a leadoff shot over the center field wall. McCaffrey thrust his arm in the air as he rounded first base, and the crowd was delirious.

Sasha Vanderkecha hit a bomb to left field in the bottom of the 5th inning, closing the gap to a 2-run deficit. Dawson Strauch would end up with the win.

The Eagles made it 4-4 in the 3rd inning when Rochester took out their starting pitcher and would end up walking Ty Seifert with the bases loaded.

Then came a key play -- Rochester catcher and 3rd basemen Andrews and Johnson teamed up to pick off Sasha Vanderkecha at third with the bases loaded.

With one out, Andrews zipped a throw to Johnson, who nearly used his cleat to block the diving Vanderkecha from reaching the base. That also almost ended Vanderkecha's night with a severly bruised hand, but he would remain in the game and hit a 5th inning home run just two innings later.

Our Savior's came out swinging at first pitches, and Easley's two-run homer into the center field seats made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first inning.

Our Savior's will take on Chatham Glenwood on Monday in the Sectional First Round. Conor McCaffrey (8-2) vs Parker Detmers (11-0) is already a set matchup. OS/Laketown coach Josh Vanderkecha has comfirmed that McCaffrey will face off with the Glenwood Ace.