The streak is almost mind-boggling.

And in many ways, would also seem to be mind-consuming.

If the Seaman baseball team alllowed it be. Which the Vikings haven't.

"It's not something we talk about -- I haven't said a word about it," Seaman coach Trent Oliva said of the Vikings string of consecutive state-tournament appearances, which reached 18 straight last week when the Vikings topped Hays 5-0 in their Class 5A regional championship game. "As a coaching staff, we know about it and I know the boys know about it. But it's not something we ever bring up.

"It's just an expectation when you come out here and put on a Seaman uniform. And I'm sure these guys, like guys before them, don't want it to end on their watch."

Seaman's remarkable run has reached state-record status. The 18 straight state appearances matches the record previously set by Kansas City Wyandotte from 1949-66 when there were just two classifications for state baseball. The Bulldogs won four state titles in that span.

Seaman's run has come in the modern era and ended with championships in more than half of its previous 17 trips with the Vikings capturing nine Class 5A state championships.

During that time, Seaman has cleared some major hurdles in keeping the streak alive. Namely in 2018, when Jackson Cobb belted a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Vikings a 3-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas -- team that had beaten the Vikings in the state quarterfinals the year before.

A similar scenario presented itself in this year's regional finals with Seaman going up against Hays. At last year's Class 5A state tournament, the two programs met in the quarterfinals and Hays rode the pitching of Dylan Dreiling to a 6-2 victory.

Dreiling, a University of Tennessee signee, was on the mound again in this year's regional final after the Indians survived a 1-0 thriller with Maize in the regional semifinals.

As daunting of a task as it seemed, the Vikings relished the showdown.

"He pitched welll against us last year and we knew what was coming," said Viking junior Bryson Vawter, who drew the start in the final against Dreiling. "I was ready for it."

Which Oliva expected.

"He's a dog for us," Oliva said of Vawter. "He's going to compete and I can't say enough about what he did. (Dreiling) is tough, but our guy was just as good, if not better. He was better today."

Vawter was more than up to the challenge in the pitcher's duel. And he helped his own cause, stroking an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to put the Vikings on top early.

"That felt wonderful, I can't even explain it," Vawter said. "It was big to get some timely hits and get guys on and get up on him."
 

Seaman manufactured a second run off a walk, errant pickoff attempt and squeeze bunt but was clinging to a 2-0 lead late in the game before breaking it open. Cameron Selbach delivered the knockout blow with a two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth that essentially punched the ticket back to state.

"We were able to put some runs on the board and small ball worked to get us the lead and Cameron gets that big hit there in the sixth," Oliva said. "He got hurt during basketball season and was out and to be honest with you, we didn't know if we'd get him varsity-wise this year. But he was able to come out and kept going and took advantage of the opportunity he got today."

Seaman (20-2) will be the No. 1 seed in this year's Class 5A state tournament, opening state play at Wichita State's Eck Stadium against St. Thomas Aquinas (13-9). After clearing such a big hurdle at regionals, Oliva said the attention now must be on a loaded 5A field that includes defending champion Blue Valley Southwest (16-6), whom the Vikings could meet up with in the semifinals with a win over Aquinas.

"We want them to enjoy this one because it was a big one," Oliva said of the Hays win. "Sometimes I don't think we enjoy these enough because of the streak and the expectations we have. We'll bring it back in.

"I think we're right where we need to be and we can go do something special in Wichita. These guys have put the time in and there's no ceiling for these guys. The sky's the limit."