The New London High School baseball team is one that many opponents don’t want to see on the schedule.

No, the Tigers aren’t the same team that won a Class 1A state championship just three short years ago.

This group of Tigers is a feisty bunch, as both Cedar Rapids Washington and Burlington found out Saturday during the annual Merle Breiholz Tournament at Wayne Duke Field.

Senior Gage Burden’s walk-off hit to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning helped New London stun Cedar Rapids Washington, 11-10, in the Tigers’ first game.

Kye Reighard’s grand slam put the Tigers in position to knock off another Class 4A team in Burlington before the Grayhounds rallied for a 7-6 win in the finale.

If the Warriors and Grayhounds took New London lightly, they found out the hard way just how good the Tigers are.

“Wins are not easy, no matter what level you’re at,” BHS coach Griffin Dean said.

New London (8-6) found itself in a knock-down, drag-out battle with Cedar Rapids Washington (8-12).

Trailing 7-3, the Tigers rallied for five runs in the fourth inning to open an 8-7 lead.

The Warriors answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and took a 10-8 lead into the seventh.

Burden came to the rescue with the game-winning hit to win the game.

“Once it left the bat I knew it felt pretty good. I was hoping for a home run, but I was happy that we could win. Individual stats don’t mean anything. I was just happy to get it done,” Burden said. “I just waited. Be aggressive first strike. I knew I was either going to hit it or I was going to get out. I just had to be ready to go.”

It was sweet justice for Burden, who struck out against Brody Griffin in his previous at bat.

“He was just telling us to forget about the errors in the last inning. Just be ready to go. We have to score if we want to win. Just keep going,” Burden said on “New London coach Jayden Flowers. “We’re having a pretty good year. For me it was good to get back my confidence. This guy struck me out and I knew he wasn’t better than me. It felt really good to get back.”

Gavin Strawhacker, Gavin Menke-Bailey, Sully Barron, Burden and Cale Westerbeck each had two hits for the Tigers.

In the nightcap against Burlington, Reighard’s grand slam in the fourth inning knotted the game at 5 before the Grayhounds won on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Reighard was 3-for-3 for the Tigers.

New London left a lasting impression on a pair of 4A opponents.

“That’s a good New London team,” Dean said. “They’re going to fight for a conference championship.”