Zac Becker has experienced some of the highest highs any high school baseball player could hope for during his career at Rock Creek.
 
As a part-time starter his freshman season in 2019, Becker had the thrill of not only catching a no-hitter in the Class 3A state tournament, but one thrown by older brother, Toby. Last season, Becker helped lead the Mustangs to their first state championship since 2015.
 
"Both of those were so great," Becker said. "It's a hard one (picking which meant more), but as much as I love my brother, I'd say winning state title was better. … Just that season brought out so many emotions for me."
 
Often times, it's not success that defines a person, it's adversity. And in that regard, Rock Creek coach Shane Sieben said Becker embodies the true sense of what it means to be a champion.
 
In between the 2019 no-hitter and the 2021 state championship, Becker's father, Matt, died in an accident at Rock Creek's baseball field. The death rocked the tight-knit Mustang community, especially the baseball program for which Matt had been a major contributor on many levels.
 
Yet Becker has put the rock in Rock Creek, battling through the extremely emotional period to help lead the Mustangs to the title last season and to a 13-5 mark this season going into Tuesday's Class 4A regional at Iola.
 
"He's gone through some things that no one, let alone a 16, 17-year-old kid should have to and handled it better than I could have ever imagined," Sieben said of Becker. "He's had to grow up faster than any kid would like to grow up. He's had to handle adversity that I don't think anyone would like to handle at that age. The way he's continued to handle things, doing well in the classroom, doing well on the field, it just speaks to the character that he has and the person he is.
 
"To handle that adversity and continue to strive for excellence, he's just a special kid."
 
Becker's athletic gifts were apparent from the moment he arrived as a freshman. Sieben is a coach who firmly believes that one of the core factors of any successful baseball programs is being strong behind the plate.
 
In 2019, Toby Becker served as Rock Creek's primary catcher. He also doubled as one of the Mustangs' top pitchers and on days when he took the mound, Sieben never hesitated in putting freshman Zac behind the plate.
 
The lone freshman to crack the lineup, Becker could have been a bit intimidated taking on even a limited role. Instead, he embraced the opportunity.
 

 
"When I first found out I was going to play as a freshman, I was excited," Becker said. "I thought I was good enough and had put the work and time in. My older brother just told me to trust it. I wouldn't say I was nervous the entire year because all the older guys had my back. I've been playing my entire life, so it wasn't really as big of a deal as it might have been."
 
Rock Creek took a 20-3 record into the Class 3A state tournament that season, opening state play with Burlington. With Toby on the mound, Zac behind the plate and Matt calling the game for an internet broadcast, the Becker family got the experience of a lifetime when Toby spun an absolute gem.
 
Becker no-hit the Wildcats in a 3-0 victory, striking out eight and coming a hit batsman away from a perfect game.
 
"It was such a cool moment for all of them," Sieben said. "It's one of the biggest highlights of my career."
 
Rock Creek wound up as state runner-up that year, falling to Sabetha in the state championship game to finish the season 22-4. Even with the losses of several key seniors off that team, Rock Creek appeared loaded for a similar run in 2020, returning a strong nucleus with the likes of Zac, pitcher Aiden Lee and juniors-to-be Mason Sturdy and Brooks Whaley.
 
Only the 2020 team never got a chance. COVID concerns led to the Kansas State High School Activities Association canceling the 2020 spring sports season, leaving a void for all athletes that year.
 
"I was really devastated because I thought we had enough experience to make another state run," Becker said. "I was heartbroken when it was canceled."
 
The heartbreak of the 2020 season took on an entirely different level of pain for Zac nd his family.
 
During that lost season, the Mustangs home baseball field was under construction with a new turf being installed. Like many others associated with the program, Matt Becker had donated countless hours of time and energy in helping the project and self-employed at Powercat Electric, he arrived at the field on the morning of May 7 to work on setting a light pole with Zac along to help.
 
After their arrival, Matt sent Zac on an errand to get some items. When Zac returned to the field, Matt was nowhere to be seen.
 
"I waited in the truck for a couple minutes because I didn't know if he'd gone to the bathroom somewhere or what," Zac recalled. "After about five minutes, I got out of the truck and walked around. He wasn't in the crane truck, so then I got a little concerned."
 
His concerns turned out to be his worst nightmare. Zac approached the 12-foot hole where his father was setting a pole and found Matt inside, trapped and unresponsive.
 
"I freaked out, called mom (Becky), called 911, trying to get people to help," he said. "But it was too late."
 
Matt Becker was pronounced dead at the scene. 
 
"I didn't want to believe it to begin with," Zac said. "Coach Sieben was one of the first guys there to be with us. It was just so hard."
 

 
While the memory of his father and the moments they shared are constantly on Zac's mind, they are most prevalent on the baseball diamond. Rock Creek's field is now complete, finished in time for last year's run to the Class 3A state championship.
 
And while the field isn't named in Matt Becker's honor, the press box is. It's where Matt routinely broadcasted Mustang games and served as the public address announcer.
 

 
"It's on my mind a lot still, but God had a plan for everybody," Zac said. "I just try to go out there and make him proud every day. Especially with baseball, because that was our biggest connection. I just know he would be so proud of us right now."

Sieben said there's no question Matt would be proud of Zac.

"Zac and I have gotten really close -- we were close before and that relationship has only grown," Sieben said. "It's one of those things where he knows I'll be there for him, and his brothers, for the rest of their lives and it's not just a me thing, but everyone in this community has stepped up. He's somebody that I can rely upon on and off the field and he's had as big of an impact on me as I've had on him."
 
Every time he takes the field, Becker wears a bracelet with the saying "Good things happen when you swing the bat," – a philosophy Matt consistently preached to his kids as he coached them growing up.
 

 
After graduation claimed 12 seniors off last year's state championship team, Becker is the veteran presence on this year's Mustang team that was in the hunt for the Mid-East League title until getting swept in the final doubleheader of the season by Rossville. He's one of just three seniors on the young Mustang team and is hitting .438 with 2 home runs, 21 RBI and has also thrown out nine would-be base stealers.
 
Among the young faces in the Rock Creek lineup surrounding Becker this season is freshman Drew Becker, Zac's younger brother, who has taken over the starting job at second base. And just as the upperclassmen took Zac under his wing when, he too has returned the favor with the Mustangs' youth.
 
"He's been a phenomenal leader for us," Sieben said. "Last year, he was a huge part of our state championship and after losing those 12 seniors, for us we were looking at it and wondering if we were going to have a rebuild this year or what. He's done everything to make sure it was a reload year and not a rebuild year. He's done a great job of leading our kids and he's really stepped up to be positive with those kids and helped bring them along."
 
Despite getting swept by Rossville to end the regular season, Rock Creek figures to be in the mix to challenge for a Class 4A state tournament berth this week. The Mustangs open regional play on Tuesday against Parsons (8-11) and with a win would take on the winner of Iola (14-4) and Baldwin (8-11).
 
"We just have to field up some fielding errors because our bats are good enough," Becker said. "We beat ourselves a lot but if we clean it up, I think we can get it done."