CLARINDA, Iowa — The St. Joseph Mustangs are champions.

The Mustangs beat the Clarinda A’s 8-2 on Thursday night to take the NBC Central Regional Tournament championship and earn a berth in the NBC World Series for the first time.

After letting a MINK League North Division championship slip through their fingers, the Mustangs felt vindicated.

“The guys really did a good job the last couple of weeks dialing it in,” said manager Matt Johnson. “They were extremely determined to win this thing. For our guys to focus and get this done is a credit to their perseverance.”

The Mustangs will take on the Greeley Grays of Greeley, Colo., at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the first round of the NBC World Series in Witchita, Kan.

The outlook on Thursday, however, was bleak early on, though, as the A’s jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Mustang starting pitcher Trent Kohlstaedt gave up two runs and five hits in the first two and a third innings but settled down and pitched shutout baseball through the sixth.

St. Joseph gave Kohlstaedt offensive support as they began to chip away at Clarinda’s lead in the third inning. They tied the game in the fourth as Brent Seifert scored on a T.J. Dailey double.

The Mustangs took the lead in the fifth inning when a Ryan Hook double scored Spiker Helms.

Hook had a big night, going 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.

“He did an unbelievable job at the dish driving in runners,” said Johnson. “He was head and shoulders above what we needed tonight.”

In addition, Johnson made the decision to have Hook finish the night by pitching the ninth inning for the first time this season.

“You could see in his eyes that he wanted the ball, and I thought why not. Let’s give him an opportunity,” Johnson said.

Hook made the most of his opportunity, pitching a one-two-three ninth inning.

Sloppy defense by Clarinda allowed the Mustangs to tack on three more unearned runs in the sixth inning. Patrick Fortunato, Greg Noble and Kevin Wempe all crossed home plate because of A’s errors, making the score 6-2.

St. Joseph added another run in the seventh, and Hook capped his night with a home run in the eighth.

Pitchers Dominic Marchesi, Mike Parker and Hook combined for shutout baseball after Kohlstaedt was relieved in the sixth inning.