SOUTH WHITLEY — I guess we finally know where to mark the map.

Before the start of the 2016 season, Tanner Gaff brought attention to the fact that the baseball world might be unaware of the Whitko Wildcats.

“It’s been a long time since Whitko baseball has won a conference championship (1985) and we have never won a sectional title,” Gaff explained during an interview in March. “We’d like to change that and put Whitko back on the map.”

Gaff and the Wildcats can check one of those goals off the list after Wednesday night. Whitko defeated North Miami 14-0 to finish the conference season out at 7-2 and earn a share of the Three Rivers Conference title. Whitko shares the honor with Peru, Tippecanoe Valley and Southwood.

While the final win came with some ease, the journey for Whitko was far from a breeze this past season. The Wildcats dropped their first two TRC contests and seemed out of the race practically before it began.

“To reel off seven in a row against a lot of tough teams in our conference feels pretty good,” Whitko head coach Erik Hisner said. “We talked to the kids about doing our part and then waiting to see how the game at Tippecanoe Valley went.”

Whitko waited nearly an hour for a final score to roll in from Akron but once the news came in, it was well worth the wait. Valley’s 3-2 victory brought Peru back to the pack and allowed for four teams to get a share of the glory. Whitko defeated Peru 2-1 in extra innings Monday to set the stage for Wednesday night.

As for Wednesday’s game with North Miami, there was no way the ‘Cats were letting that one slip by them.

Whitko opened things up in the second inning, tacking nine runs on the board. Among the barrage of scoring were RBIs from Garrett Smiley, Tanner Gaff, Drew Bradford and Alex Bechtold. Whitko was silent in the third but scored five more in the fourth with RBIs from Austin Hollowell, Zach Hewitt, Landen Goff and Riley Anderson.

Bradford picked up the win on the mound for the Wildcats, pitching all five innings, surrendering three hits and recording six strikeouts.

Whitko now sits at 19-6 overall and will look to keep its momentum going into the postseason.

“When you’re sitting 0-2 in the conference, the best you can do is go 7-2 and we put ourselves in a position to get a share of the title by winning seven in a row and that gives us some momentum moving forward,” Hisner stated. “We’ve still got a few good games left on the schedule to get prepared before the sectional starts next week. That sectional will be a grinder.”

With momentum, and now hardware, comes confidence.

“I think we’re confident right now and if we play to the best of our ability then we know we’re going to be competitive and give ourselves a chance,” Hisner offered in closing.

This is Whitko’s fifth conference title all-time (1978, ’79, ’80 and ’85), Valley’s first since 2002 and Southwood’s (2015 champion) first back-to-back titles in school history. This is also Peru’s first TRC title as it is the school’s first year in the conference.

Whitko hosts Prairie Heights for a double header this Saturday and takes on Churubusco next Monday. Whitko faces Lewis-Cass in the opening round of the Wabash sectional next Wednesday.