黑料福利社

Since 1991, when Del Cruzen鈥檚 crew won the Class A state title, the Rangers have qualified for the state baseball playoffs in 25 of 29 seasons and collected 11 trophies 鈥� second only in the Valley to Selah.

This 2009 team, coached by Bill Walker, was named the overall team of the year at the 黑料福利社 Sports Awards. Cruzen and Walker have both been inducted into the baseball coaches鈥� Hall of Fame.

鈥� 鈥� 鈥�

So they made four errors, including three during a perilous second inning in which it must have seemed to some that the sky was once again falling on the Naches Valley Rangers.

But guess what?

This NV team, anchored by a corps of five seniors who had endured the agony of defeat in the most cruel extreme two years ago, and had again fallen short in the Class 1A final four last season, responded.

This NV team made a monstrous play to limit damage in the aforementioned frame, then scored six times in its half of the inning.

This NV team would produce two more gigantic defensive gems, and it would fight through one last bobble to leave the tying run at second base in the last inning and then experience the euphoria of dogpiling on the pitcher鈥檚 mound 鈥� a ritual reserved for champions only.

鈥淚t feels ... exhilarating,鈥� Ethan Flory said once the initial celebration of the Rangers鈥� 8-6 state title conquest of Kalama had subsided at Yakima County Stadium.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good way to put it,鈥� said fellow senior Adam Ranger, his sweat-soaked jersey and ear-to-ear smile matching Flory鈥檚.

Vindicating, perhaps, too.

Because in the 2007 title game against Chimacum at Wenatchee, Naches Valley was within one out of the championship only to have an error allow the tying run to score, and the Cowboys went on to a 4-2 win.

鈥淵ou鈥檒l notice that in this game, after we made those three errors, we came right back and scored six,鈥� said coach Bill Walker. 鈥淎nd in the seventh, after J.R. Weigel (NV shortstop) short-armed the ball a little bit on a play that could easily have been a base hit, he wanted the next one.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way this team has fought back from 鈥�07. We talk about 鈥�07.鈥�

Now they鈥檒l talk about how pitcher Thomas Wilcox fielded a popped-up suicide squeeze bunt with the bases loaded and one out in the second, then calmly threw to Chris Walker at third for a rally-killing double play.

They鈥檒l talk about how after Kalama鈥檚 Nick LaRoy, a left-handed pitching phenom who had no-hit the Rangers in last year鈥檚 semifinal, singled and stole second to represent the tying in the fifth. And of how Flory ran down a fly ball in right-center, then fired a laser to cut down the fleet-footed LaRoy at third for another DP.

And they鈥檒l talk about how the Chinooks put runners at second and third with one out in the sixth, only to have Weigel field a grounder and look the runner back to third, then throw to Ranger at first. Ranger, then, saw the runner break from third and threw home to catcher Brandon Gillespie, who tagged him out in a rundown.

Failure to complete any of those plays might have swung the balance decisively in Kalama鈥檚 favor.

It might have rendered moot Naches Valley鈥檚 11-batter, five-hit second in which No. 9-hitter Cody Johns executed a textbook suicide squeeze bunt to score one run, Flory singled to bring home another and Wilcox doubled to plate two more.

Then, after coming up empty on scoring chances in the fourth and fifth, the Rangers got their final two on an RBI double by Gillespie and a run-scoring single by Ranger in the seventh.

Wilcox, at 2 for 3, was the lone NV player with multiple hits while LaRoy was 3 for 3.

Many expected the left-hander to pitch, since he鈥檇 served as the designated hitter in Kalama鈥檚 3-0 Friday win over Cashmere.

But after LaRoy, author of three no-hitters and a 21-strikeout game this season, stretched in the Chinooks bullpen, coach Len Hiatt summoned senior right-hander Robby Sanders to warm up. An arm ailment apparently relegated the junior standout, Kalama鈥檚 cleanup hitter, to right field.

But none of that matters now.

This NV team might have messed up a few of the little plays Saturday, but it made every big one with uncommon precision and poise.

And it now carries the only title it deserves 鈥� that of a state champion.