A tension filled Tempe Diablo Stadium and a bit of déjà vu ahead of the 3A state final.

Neither team could’ve asked for a better opportunity to end the season: Valley Christian with a chance at back-to-back titles and Yuma Catholic with a shot at revenge in the same finals matchup the Shamrocks lost a year ago. 

In the end, the outcome didn’t change.

No. 1 seed Valley Christian took out No. 2 seed Yuma Catholic 6-0 to win the championship once again, largely thanks to the spectacular play of junior Cameron Bergloff (8-1), who struck out nine in a three-hit shutout.  

“Cameron Bergloff battled in the first inning lead off hit, and then he left them there on third base, so I think that was a big part of the win for us,” said Valley Christian head coach Vince LaGatta. “He left base runners out there a couple times, so Cameron is our MVP of today.”

Bergloff entered the game with a 0.21 ERA, and he contributed a two-run single in the fourth inning as well to round out his statsheet.

“My expectations were to just keep throwing strikes, hitting the zone, and letting my defense work,” Bergloff said. “We’re all feeling amazing, and honestly, back-to-back is something that’s hard to do. We can’t take it for granted and we all want the third now.”

Neither side was able to get much going until second baseman Berkeley Kaiser finally made contact for Valley Christian in the bottom of the third. The Trojans went the first two innings without a hit, and Kaiser’s triple got the ball rolling, setting up shortstop Brayden Waggoner for an RBI single that drew first blood shortly after. 

Waggoner then followed up Bergloff’s RBI single in the fourth with one of his own to make the score 4-0. One-run singles from first baseman Ryan Sanchez and right fielder Kyle Grier in the fifth earned the Trojans their last two scores of the season. Waggoner and Sanchez led in hits for the day with two each. 

Senior Mickey Fox pitched the first four innings for Yuma Catholic. Fox struck out three and walked three. He allowed six hits and four runs. The Shamrocks pivoted to second baseman Ivan Guzman in the fifth, and then first baseman Hiram Silva closed it out in the sixth. 

“Our program has set an example of where we should be, and it should be in this position on a yearly basis,” said Yuma Catholic head coach Judd Thrower. “We want to play these games, we want to be a part of these games. It was a game where had a couple things turned here or there, we’d get a chance and we’re maybe coming out on the other end of this one.”

Coming in, each team had only given up two games all season. Both of the Shamrocks’ losses came at the hands of the Trojans, seemingly foreshadowing their fate in the finals.

The repeat champs have been dangerously consistent over the past two seasons, and they’ll remain Yuma Catholic’s kryptonite. 

“Our team motto this year was ‘endure’,” said LaGatta. “We had a lot of adversity this year: injuries, sicknesses, having a target on our back all year long, and these guys rose above it. This is one of the best groups of kids that you could be around. We’re just very, very blessed to have the type of kids and community that we have.”

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