For Tech baseball coach Bill Stuber, the wait lasted 21 years. For his seniors, it was four years.
But the Desert League’s second-seeded Roadrunners finally got their first state championship Saturday by defeating top-seeded Silverado 9-2 in the 4A state baseball finals at Sierra Vista.
Senior Nick Collingbourne went 2-for-4 with a key double and three RBIs to lead the way to an achievement Stuber said was long overdue.
“This program has gradually gotten better each year,” the coach said. “The guys before paved the way for these guys.”
Though Tech (18-16) also defeated Silverado 5-2 in the semifinals Thursday, the Skyhawks (21-12-1) dominated the two regular-season meetings between the teams and appeared to be off to a good start Saturday when Giovanni Guariglia gave them a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the third inning.
But Tech battled back to turn momentum in the bottom of the inning, with Collingbourne hitting a two-run double to ignite a four-run inning.
“They threw me a two-strike fastball down the middle,” said Collingbourne, who also pitched 5.1 innings to earn the win. “And I was able to put it in a place where nobody was.”
The Roadrunners controlled the remainder of the game, adding two more runs in the fourth inning and three in the fifth. Wyatt Mintun homered for Silverado in the sixth, but the solo shot did little to stop Tech.
Stuber said the victory was the perfect way to cap a season in which the Roadrunners lost 10 of their first 11 games.
“We were pretty much playing a 5A non-league schedule,” he said. “I told my guys to trust the system, and they did. I’m so proud of them.”
Senior Briggs Barlow, who was a team leader for the Roadrunners throughout the season and went 3-for-4 with a double Saturday, said players were initially discouraged by the slow start.
“It’s been nothing but heartbreak for the last three years,” Barlow said. “Who thought we could have come back from a 1-10 start? What a great feeling.”
But Collingbourne said they never gave up.
“We knew we’d come ‘round,” he said. “It was just a matter of time.”
Stuber agreed, noting an unlikely key to his team’s success.
“This team played very loose,” the coach said. “They’d just go out there and relax. That allowed them to fall behind and be able to come back.
Freshman Carter Sekikawa pitched the last 1.2 innings for Tech, striking out two while holding Silverado to one hit to secure the win.
Ky Walters added three hits for Silverado.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
