GREAT BEND – When Mission Valley baseball coach Justin Duncan heard a random celebration from the Viking fans during his team's semifinal game, it wasn't hard to figure out what they were reacting to.  

"We were right in the middle of our game with Valley Falls and our fans went nuts, and I knew exactly what happened," Duncan said.  

Down in Pratt, the Viking softball team had just captured the Class 2-1A softball championship with a 6-4 win over Troy.  

At that point, it was up to the baseball team to accomplish something just a handful of schools have done in state history – win baseball and softball titles in the same year.  

The Viking baseball team held up its end of the deal in dramatic fashion, outlasting Little River in a 5-4 thriller on Friday at the Great Bend Sports Complex for the 2-1A title.  

Mission Valley became just the eighth school to sweep the baseball and softball state championships and the first since Bishop Carroll in 2012.  

Duncan was in awe looking at the crowd of Viking fans on the field after the game.  

"Look at these people from Mission Valley out here," Duncan said. "The support is there for both of us. It's awesome." 

It took everything the Vikings had to hold off Little River. 

Trailing by a run in the top of the seventh, the Redskins put their first two batters on after Braden Young singled for a bunt and Dalton Mantz reached on an error.  

Mission Valley senior Joel Deters then delivered the biggest pitch of the game, coaxing a groundball for a 4-6-3 double play.  

"It was a really big hitter so I threw a curveball, hoping he would climb over the top, and sure enough he did," Deters said. 

With the potential tying run at third, Deters then retired Little River's last hitter on a flyout to centerfield, securing Mission Valley's first state baseball title in program history. 

A side-armer, Deters earned the win in relief, allowing just two unearned runs and three hits while striking out nine and not surrendering a walk.  

"I think (the side-arm delivery) helps me a lot, because not a lot of people do it," said Deters, a multi-sport standout. "Everyone's throwing over the top. Throwing to the side gives them a different look. I've been doing it probably since I was about 14 or 13, kind of accidentally started to do it. I just stuck with it and learned to use the off-speed pitches to my advantage because I wasn't throwing really hard." 

"You look at him, and you don't see much velocity," Duncan added. "But what you do see is a winner. That kid just knows how to win. Everything he does is just awesome." 

 

The Vikings (23-1) and Redskins (20-6) were tied at 2 after four innings before Little River took advantage of a pair of Mission Valley errors to go up 4-2 in the top of the fifth.  

Mission Valley responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Keaton Marcotte and Jonathen Grame delivered back-to-back RBI doubles with one out, and Grame scored what proved to be the winning run on a balk.  

"Those four seniors that leadoff our lineup (Carter Phillips, Deters, Marcotte and Grame) have been tremendous all year," Duncan said. "Those guys came up at the biggest time at state for us."
 

Freshman Spencer Strecker helped give Little River a good chance,  going 4.1 innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks. 

"He came out and battled and battled because our top two kids didn't have many pitches left," Little River coach Terry Renken said. "I thought the whole state tournament our kids battled.  

"We had a chance, we had a guy on third. We had a chance to tie it up. We were hoping to get that one run so we could get to that extra inning and keep going." 

The Redskins, who have just 11 players on the roster, earned come-from-behind wins over Elkhart, 7-5, and Colony-Crest, 10-8, to reach the title game.  

"Our kids are competitors. They never gave up," coach said. "The first two games showed that, coming back and winning. They came to practice every day and worked hard and were coachable. We had a lot of kids that pitched, so that helped us when we got to the state tournament." 

Seeking its first state tournament victory in their ninth appearance, the Vikings threw their ace Carter Phillips in their tournament opener on Thursday. Phillips tossed five shutout innings in a 10-0 run-rule win over Remington, allowing just one hit while striking out nine.  

Nick Price then earned the win on the mound in a 14-4 semifinal win over Valley Falls, allowing four runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked five. Victor Vargas tossed the first two innings in the final, giving up two runs (one earned), before being relieved by Deters. 

"We weren't going to lose with our ace sitting over on the bench," Duncan said of the tournament opener. "And then we knew Valley Falls was going to be a tough team because we played them earlier in the year, and Nick Price threw a gem. He threw a gem and then all of the sudden our bats got hot. 

"We knew Victor would start off (the title game). He's not used to throwing a little bit and then coming back, so then Joel came in and finished it, and he was awesome." 

Marcotte, Cade Willard and Vargas all had two hits for the Vikings. Young went 2 of 3 at the plate with a walk for Little River.  

Seven Mission Valley seniors – Deters, Phillips, Marcotte, Willard, Grame, Ashton Lowe and Brandon Jones --- celebrated a state title in their final game, capping off a momentous day for the school.  

"This is my first time ever being in a state tournament in any sport," said Deters, who homered in the semifinal. "Last year (softball) went and they got third. Just for everyone to win, especially, the seniors, for us to go out like that, is a memory I'll have forever." 

Valley Falls took third place with a 16-6 win over Colony-Crest.