(Max Potter)
LAKEWOOD – Early offense set the scene at All-Star Park , but Evan Magill settled in for Mountain Vista and went six innings on the mound to lift the Golden Eagles over Valor Christian, 3-2, in the 5A baseball state championship on Friday afternoon.
“We all had to lock in after the first inning, we were nervous, everyone was nervous out here today,” Magill said. “There were times with runners on and we only had one out, but I knew we had to get the strikeout. I was thinking curveballs, they were swinging right over them, putting them on the ground. I even shook off some fastballs because I did not want them to make contact.”
Blake Wilson continued his hot hitting for Valor Christian, ripping a double to the gap to open the scoring, but savvy base running from Mountain Vista’s Travis Sprinkle and Trey Dunn gave the Golden Eagles all they needed. After the two early runs allowed, Magill, who won a state title his freshman year, settled in to retire 15 of the last 17 batters he faced, many of them with a wipeout curveball. He registered nine punch-outs in six innings.
Mountain Vista head coach Ron Quintana turned it over to his bullpen in the ninth, bringing on Griffin Huiatt, the other freshman on that 2018 championship team, and he slammed the door on the Eagles.
“Evan did a great job coming in before me and getting us to that point,” Huiatt said. “For me, my job was to throw strikes and let our defense work. There was a lot of adrenaline out there, but it all worked out in the end.”
Quintana and his group rolled through the playoffs as the last undefeated team, which allowed them to save a lot of pitching for Friday. The closeness of his team, he said, is what makes this year’s group stand out from others.
“When we say family, we mean it,” Quintana said. “This is such a close group and a lot of people counted these guys out and didn’t think we could be here right now. I always tell our guys, if we play Vista baseball instead of the other team, we are unstoppable. They bought in this year and here we are.”
Mountain Vista earned its second state championship in program history, with the last coming in 2018. It also marks the 27th crown in school history and the second this week with the boys lacrosse team winning on Tuesday.