Valor Christian wins first state baseball title

VALOR 9, PUEBLO W. 6

lakewood» Valor Christian outfielder Levi Walters must have nerves of steel.

He’s a senior and had experienced some anxious moments before while playing baseball, but the bottom of the seventh inning in Sunday’s Class 4A state championship game couldn’t have had much more drama.

Pueblo West had the bases loaded and was within striking distance of Valor Christian’s three-run lead.

“I had trust in my team,” Walters said, and it was rewarded as the Eagles (23-4) survived the challenge and won 9-6 at All Star Park. The victory put the first baseball title hardware into Valor Christian’s already crowded trophy case.

“We have trust and confidence with everybody,” Walters said. He added, “It’s awesome to leave a legacy in your senior year.”

It was Walters’ two-run double to left in the top of the seventh that clinched the victory.

For Valor Christian coach Keith Wahl, the title helped soothe some unpleasant memories.

“We were down by four early in the title game,” Wahl said. “We just kept scraping away. We talked about it in the dugout. Just get them one by one, and that’s what we did.”

The Eagles had a busy Sunday on the way to the title.

Pueblo West had started the day unbeaten in the playoffs. Wahl told a postgame gathering that 24 years ago, while playing for Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, he experienced the other side of the picture when his team was beaten by Cherry Creek.

Freshman right-hander Davis Heller pitched the Eagles to a 7-1 victory in the first game to keep Valor’s hopes alive.

“We had the guy up there who we wanted in the bottom of the seventh,” Pueblo West coach Dan Sanchez said after his team finished 21-6. “He hit the ball as hard as he could. We probably hit 15 line drives right at them during the day.”