Dobson High had been absent from the 5A state baseball tournament since 2005 and had not prevailed in a state playoff game since 2004. That ended on Saturday afternoon.

The visiting Mustangs, the No. 14 seed, stunned No. 3 seed and defending 5A-I champ Desert Ridge, 9-7, on the Jaguars home field last Saturday.

Dobson entered the tournament with no momentum. The Mustangs dropped their final three regular-season games by scores of 12-2, 13-2 and 9-4. The game before that trio teh Mustangs were leading Basha 12-5, but ended up losing 14-13.

Coach Dave Tykoski's club found a way to put that bad karma behind them.

"As soon as our last game was done I told the guys we just have to see what happens," Tykoski said. "I wasn't sure if we had made it or not so I told a couple kids I would text them when the bracket came out, and they could let the rest of the team know."

One of the players had his cell phone out in class and was searching the bracket to see if the team had qualified. His teacher admonished him, but when she found out what he was looking at it for he was allowed to refresh from time to time.

Dobson trailed 3-0 after the first inning and by as much as 6-2 mid-game. Junior Keegan Lohide pitched the final three innings in relief and earned the win. Dobson hd pulled to within 6-5 before Desert Ridge scored one run off Lohide to take a 7-5 lead going to the seventh.

Dobson proceeded to put together a four -run rally in the top of the seventh off Desert Ridge ace Scott Hoffman and reliever Dylan Barrett. The game-winning hit was a two-run double by senior Justin Olcott.

Lohide got a great defensive play from shortstop Josh Stone to open the bottom of the seventh and closed out the Jaguars getting a double-play grounder.

"We told them before the tournament started we needed to continue to play hard, keep doing things on and off the field the right way," Tykoski said. "They were really excited after the game and so were the parents. A lot of the parents lined up after the game and formed a tunnel to congratulate the guys. It was pretty neat."