Valor Christian secured a 4A championship three-peat with a 3-1 victory over previously undefeated Erie on Saturday afternoon at Aurora Sports Park in a game showcasing the state’s two best pitchers.
Eagles junior Ali Kilponen threw a complete game for her third consecutive victory in a title game, outdueling an equally talented ace in Tigers senior Rio Sanchez. Senior Madalyn Mitchell homered and senior Erica Mann also chipped in an RBI for Valor Christian (24-1).
“We’ve been here twice, so we’ve had that experience of not only what it takes to get here, but also to play in big games like this,” Valor Christian coach Dave Atencio said. “I think one thing we were a little motivated by is that everybody talked about Erie all year (even though) we were the two-time state champions.”
And with Kiloponen coming back in the circle for her senior campaign next fall, it’s never too early to start to thinking about the possibility of a four-peat.
“We’ll definitely give a good run for it, and we have great freshman coming up,” Ali Kilponen said. “So we’re going to work just as hard, and even harder, as we can to push ourselves to another title.”
As for the Tigers (24-1), Erie says goodbye to a potent trio of seniors in Sanchez, Maddie Foster and Lynsey Bauchert, with the impending graduation of Sanchez (a University of Central Arkansas commit) especially bittersweet.
“For Rio, she’s been one of the all-time top girls in our state, I think, and she’s an Erie girl who’s really bought into our community and our program in a day and age where sometimes club sports starts to creep into the realm of high school stuff,” Erie coach Harold Simmons said. “She doesn’t do that; she didn’t miss games to recruiting trips, she got in the circle every time she was asked.”
