Bleach blonde is the new black for Class 4A State baseball champion Rock Creek, which defeated Pratt 7-3 in Friday’s championship game at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina.
 
The Mustangs kept up with tradition in Rock Creek with a handful of players dying their hair bleach blonde before state.
 
“Dying their hair was something they wanted to do after regionals, kids being kids,” Rock Creek coach Shane Sieben said. “Many moons ago when I was a senior we did the same thing with our hair, but these kids now are just a fun group to be around.”
 
However, the game-changing hit came from a natural blonde, second baseman Casey McCarn, whose 3-RBI single gave Rock Creek the insurance it needed to bring the championship home. 
 
“I was a little nervous, but staying calm and stepping up is what was important. I had to think, ‘We’ll get the next (hit) even if I don’t get this one.,” McCarn said. “The other players are trying to copy me with the hair though, they all bleached their hair but mine is naturally blond. It’s a state thing that we all wanted to do.”
 
McCarn had finished the end of the season in the six-spot in the Mustangs lineup, after having to do some adjusting with his swing towards the end of his season. He finished with four RBI in the title game.
 
“McCarn had been one of our top hitters all year. He had been hitting in the four or five slot for us, and he just kinda struggled at the end,” Mustang assistant coach Patrick Bramhall said. “We faced a lot of really good arms, and he started to press when he didn’t have success, but tonight he had a heck of an at-bat where he just fought, and was able to put it in play and be aggressive on the bases.”
 
McCarn’s game-clinching single followed a go-ahead single from Brock Lubbers, who finished the title game 1-4.
 

 
Pratt seized the early lead in the game. After going three-up three-down in the first, Pratt ended the top of the second up two runs. The Mustangs were not able to answer back until the bottom of the third with a groundout RBI from Ryker Zoeller.
 
Momentum still favored the Greenbacks though, when a dropped third strike resulted in a run being brought in.
 
“We knew it was going to be a well-played game with things done the right way,” Sieben said. “(Pratt) doesn’t chirp, they don't talk, they just keep their heads down and play.”
 

 
Even though the Mustangs fell behind in the game early, Sieben wasn’t worried.
 
“Our kids’ resilience has been unbelievable. It has been all year,” Sieben said. “Every time we’ve been down or we make a mistake, we respond. That’s the biggest thing we talk about, it’s the most resilient group I’ve been around.”
 
After adding another run to get within one in the fourth, Rock Creek took a commanding four-run lead by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by McCarn’s bases-clearing hit.
 
“I thought that the best two teams this weekend played,” Pratt coach Ron Hill said. “We just gave up a crooked number in the fifth.”
 
“We knew we were facing a really good team in Pratt. Really well coached, they do all the things the right way,” Bramhall said. “Our teams mirror each other, we play the same type of game, make the same types of plays, throw the same types of strikes. But the one thing our group does is be resilient. They just fight and fight and fight.”
 

 
Cooper Sieben worked 3.1 innings to get the win, finishing the season 9-0 to set the school record for wins in a season. He scatted three hits and struck out five after going four innings in the semifinal to get that win as well. Zoeller pitched two scoreless innings in the title game and three in the semifinals.
 
Rock Creek (28-1) finished its season with a 28-game winning streak, in the process ending a 24-game winning streak for Pratt (24-4). The Mustangs set a school and state record for victories in a season and captured their third state title overall and second in four years.
 
Rock Creek advanced to the title game with a 10-5 win over Paola, while Pratt knocked off Abilene 3-2. Abilene edged Paola 10-9 in eight innings in the third-place game.