MEDIAPOLIS — The Mediapolis High School baseball team has its sights set on the big prize.

Nothing, but nothing, is going to distract the Bulldogs from their primary objective of reaching the state tournament.

Not even a no-hit bid by all-state senior pitcher Lance Ludens in his final home game.

Ludens through a gem, allowing no hits through six inning before Max Griffin came in to slam the door in Mediapolis’ 3-0 victory over Durant in a Class 2A district championship game on Saturday at the Mediapolis Athletic Complex.

Fifth-ranked Mediapolis (26-2) advances to a substate final to face MFL MarMac (24-6) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Solon. The winner will advance to the state tournament July 21-25 at Merchants Park in Carroll.

Durant ends the season with a 20-9 record.

Ludens was simply masterful, allowing just two base runners — a hit batter in the first inning and an error in the fifth — but was more than willing to yield to Griffin and save his arm for Tuesday’s game.

“I realized it after I came out,” Ludens said of his no-hitter. “As long as we win the game I don’t care what my stat line looks like. I knew I had to stay under 65 if I wanted to throw on Tuesday. That’s exactly what I did. I’m thankful for Max to be able to come in and shut the door. That was huge. We’re looking forward to Tuesday.”

Mediapolis coach Rick Whitaker was aware of the no-hitter. He was even more aware of Ludens’ pitch count.

“I knew he had that no-hitter going. We want bigger things,” Whitaker said. “With that 3-0 lead we pulled him out. We have all the confidence in the world in Max. He hasn’t been getting a lot of innings because Lance chews them up.”

Mediapolis scored the only run it would need in the first inning against Durant ace Colby Gast. Consecutive doubles to nearly the exact same spot in left field by Ludens and Kyler Crow brought courtesy runner Brock Spears with the first run of the game.

Griffin was hit by a pitch leading off the second, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Henry Luttenegger and scored on a sacrifice fly by Will Luttenegger.

“After we got that first run with back-to-back doubles by Lance and Kyler, our two best hitters, I would say we were in good shape,” Whitaker said.

The Bulldogs scored again in the fifth. Will Luttenegger reached on an error to open the frame, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Ludens and scored on a ground out by Crow.

Gast quietly tossed a four-hitter at the Bulldogs, walking three, hitting a batter and striking out eight.

“Colby Gast is really good. I believe he is the Player of the Year in the River Valley Conference,” Whitaker said. “He’s a hell of a center fielder, hell of a pitcher. He’s super fast. These guys have been playing against him in travel ball for years, so they know how good he is. They respect him.”

That was more than enough run support for Ludens, who struck out seven and let his defense behind him do the rest.

“We have a good bullpen. I’m confident that if I come out not as hot or I’m not locating well, I know there’s two guys and at least one of them is going to come in behind me and shut the door,” Ludens said. “We’ve been locking it down the last couple games. We fly around the field. Having a great defensive crew is what makes me look so good on the mound. I wouldn’t look this good without them.”

Griffin gave up a two-out single to Conner Schwartz in the top of the seventh, but got Isaac Nielsen to pop out to end the game.

It was the final home game for seniors Ludens, Doty and Braeden Oliver.

They made sure they went out with a win.

“It’s sad, but it’s good that we moved on. We’re hoping to go to state,” Doty said.

“This was huge. Last year this was the game that knocked us out. We were coming out here with passion. We really wanted to win this game. I gave it everything I had,” Ludens said. “Five years I’ve been on this field, since eighth grade. My last home game, so I had to come out and do something special. This is the furthest I’ve made it and I’m pretty sure this the furthest our coach, Rick, has made it in nine years. It’s great to be here, but we’re not done yet.”