Williams Claims First 1A Baseball Title in School History

Saturday afternoon at Diablo Stadium, the Williams Vikings defeated the Mongollon Mustangs 10-5 in the 1A championship game. 

After knocking on the door the last three seasons, Williams was able to get over the hump and get to place new hardware in their trophy case. 

In the first inning, Williams got out to a fast start.

2026 pitcher Mario Pedraza hit an RBI single that allowed 2028 utility Anthony Martinez to score.

The Vikings added another run to give them an early 2-0 lead.

Bringing in another runner was Williams 2026 Cade Trimble, who found a gap between the second and third bases for an RBI double. 

For the first few innings, as well, Pedraza would get it done on the mound and limit Mollogon from getting much momentum going on offense. 

Fast forward to the top of the third inning, and Williams added to their lead. 

Similar to the first inning, both Pedraza and Trimble each knocked in an RBI. 

Scoring one of the runs was Williams 2026 Jace Maebe off of a Pedraza triple. 

Trimble then hit another single that allowed Pedraza to score off of. 

At the end of three innings, Williams held a strong 4-0 lead. 

Then, Mongollon would come to life in the fifth inning. 

Getting the Mustangs on the board in the championship game was 2026 Parker Reidhead. 

Reidhead blasted a ball to deep center field and brought 2026 infielder Quinn Tenney home for a run.

The runs would start to add up rapidly.

Mongollon 2026 Yoyo Suarez hit a sacrifice fly to bring 2027 Anthony Pimental in for a score. 

The next at bat would see Mongollon 2026 catcher Brody Porter put the pressure on. 

Porter hit a RBI double that brought 2028 Jett Reidhead in for a run. 

Williams proceeded to commit two errors that the Mustangs capitalized on. 

After a wild pitch and a drop by the catcher, Mongollon was able to steal home twice. 

Parker Reidhead stole home first, then, after a misfire throw to third base, it allowed Porter to also steal home and give the Mustangs their first lead of the game. 

Just like that, at the end of four innings Mongollon led 5-4. 

With their backs against the wall, Williams needed a response. 

In the sixth inning, the Vikings fired on all cylinders and took the largest lead of the contest. 

Hitting his third and fourth RBI of the game, Pedraza found a gap in left field to get a two RBI double. 

Scoring the runs were Martinez and Pimentel. 

Also hitting a two RBI double was Trimble. 

Smacking the ball to deep left field, Trimble allowed Maebe and Pedraza to score runs and keep the momentum alive.

It seemed as though Williams could not miss the ball. 

Capping off the dominant inning was Williams 2027 left fielder Joshua Rue-Wilber. 

Rue-Wilber was able to barrel the ball near perfectly to find a gap in the right field for a two RBI single. 

With only one and a half innings to go, Williams held a 10-5 lead. 

The Vikings would have to keep Mongollon at bay and limit the hits they get.

Pedraza, who had a dominant performance at the plate, showed his two-way ability in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

To begin the inning, Pedraza struck out the batter, then proceeded to field the next two outs and send the game to the seventh inning. 

Pedraza got it done on both sides of the ball in the biggest game of the year, and Williams head coach Ethan Johnson said he is a special player for the program.

“He means a lot, he’s been one of our go-to guys since he was a freshman,” Johnson said. “We lost him for about a month in the middle of the season due to injury. Having him back is a reason we were so successful. He bleeds black and orange.” 

During the seventh inning, Williams prevented Mongollon from mounting a comeback and got a quick three outs. 

As the final out was caught, the Vikings players threw their hats in the air and embraced as they realized they were the 2026 1A champions. 

The journey was never easy, but the group of players Williams had this year was a special one. 

Williams fell in consecutive straight semi-final games, and Pedraza and his team knew this was the year they could get it done.

“Back-to-back semis,” Pedraza said. “We had to make this one, third time is the charm.” 

They have been contenders every season, but this was the year all the pieces came together.

Williams now will forever have a baseball state championship in the history books.

“We’ve been shooting for it for four years, we feel like we have a team good enough to do it every year,” Johnson said. “We finally put all the pieces together.”