DENVER—Ralston Valley didnt seem to have much going for it when the Mustangs arrived at All City Field for the CHSAAs 4A baseball championship.
Their opponent, Thomas Jefferson, had beaten them six straight times, including once during this seasons playoffs. There was also the fact that, to win their first state title, the Mustangs would have to beat the Spartans twice.
However, said Ralston Valley star Matt Skipper, “When we got here, nobody was hanging their head down; everybody said we came here to win two games.”
Not only did the Mustangs win, for most of the afternoon, they were dominant. After Skipper got the ball rolling by tossing a five-hitter in a 10-0, six-inning opening-game victory, Ralston Valley jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the title game and cruised to an 8-4 win.
“I was really surprised at that,” Ralston Valley coach Shane Freehling said. “Theyve got a good offensive club; I didnt expect to hold them scoreless for 10 innings or dominate them the way we did.”
In the days first game, the Mustangs jumped on Thomas Jefferson for four runs in the first inning; in the championship game, they scored a pair of runs in the opening two innings. Shell-shocked, the normally high-scoring Spartans were kept off the board until a two-run pinch-hit homer by Sam Thomas in the fifth inning of the second game.
Thomas Jefferson added another run to make the score 6-3, but after Ralston Valley came up with another pair of runs in the top of the sixth, it was clear that for a second straight year the Spartans would lose twice on championship Saturday in failing to win its first state title since 1967.
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