Four years ago, Hayfield senior Cam Rutledge was one of many overwhelmed underclassmen on head coach Kasey Krekling’s first varsity team.

On Wednesday, Rutledge helped lead the No. 2 seeded Vikings to their first Section 1A West title since 1999 as they topped No. 8 Goodhue 4-0 at Dick Seltz Field.

Rutledge struck out eight to pick up the shutout as he scattered five hits.

“Coach Krekling has been starting me since my ninth grade year and now it’s my senior year and we finally got that subsection title,” Rutledge said. “He’s been helping me out a lot and this win is huge. No losses going into sections is the biggest thing we can have.”

Hayfield went into Wednesday’s game with a 2-0 lead after Monday’s game was suspended due to rain. Goodhue had runners on first and second with two outs in the sixth when Hayfield first baseman Ben Czaplewski made a jumping catch to save a throwing error and get a rally ending out.

The Vikings (17-5 overall) put the game away in the sixth when Brady Becker doubled in a run.

Krekling said his first year coaching the team had just one senior and one junior, but the Vikings have much better numbers now.

“Every year the win total has gone up and now we’re in the section tournament as an undefeated team,” Krekling said. “It’s quite an accomplishment, but we’ve gotta keep level heads. We know our goal is the state tournament, so we’re not done yet.”

After having taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Monday, the Vikings weren’t happy when they had to wait two days to get back on the field, but they showed up to play and got the job done.

“That two day rest kind of killed our momentum, but it helped my arm,” Rutledge said. “I kind of had mixed emotions about that.”

Krekling said Rutledge answered the bell.

“He came back today and he pitched,” Krekling said. “He’s been throwing too many fast balls and trying to over power people, but today he pitched and he threw all of his pitches.”

Hayfield, which has four pitchers with an ERA of less than 3.00, will open the Section 1A baseball tournament against Lewiston-Altura at Hudson Field in Rochester 10 a.m. Saturday.

Goodhue 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 1

Hayfield 2 0 0 1 0 1 X — 4 7 0

Hayfield pitching: Cam Rutledge (W) 7 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 8 K, 1 HBP

Hayfield hitting: Rutledge, 1-for-3, R; Adam Younge, 2-for-3, 2 R; Andrew Becker, 2-for-2, double, RBI, R, SB, BB; Dominic Dublin, 0-for-3; Ben Czaplewski, 0-for-3; Lane Canny, 1-for-3, SB; Aaron Younge, 1-for-2, RBI; Adam Fjerstad, 0-for-2; Blake Risius, 0-for-1, BB