Normally, the four-hour drive from Fresno to Rocklin is arduous.
But Sierra College baseball players aren't so sure the tires of the bus ever hit the ground in cruising home somewhere near cloud nine Monday evening, basking in a championship glow and belting out the Queen classic "We Are the Champions."
The Wolverines won the State Community College Championship by downing Southwestern College of Chula Vista 6-2 at Fresno City College to cap a record season.
Sierra lost the first game of the day to Southwestern 7-3, forcing a winner-take-all title game. The Wolverines dogpiled in celebrating the program's first baseball crown.
"Incredible and amazing," Sierra coach Rob Willson said via cell phone from the team bus. "To think there are 90 junior college teams that play baseball in this state and we're the champion … phenomenal."
Cameron Ray earned the win in a gutsy 5 1/3-inning performance. It was the sophomore All-American's second win of the tournament, earning him MVP honors.
Weary from a 113-pitch outing Saturday, Ray had hoped to go one inning, but he felt fine as each inning progressed.
"I wanted to do the best I could and put it all on the line, and once my adrenaline kicked in, I was fine and didn't even feel my arm," Ray said.
Ryan Stevens had a two-run homer in the third inning for a 3-0 lead, and Josh Crockett pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief, yielding one run, as the Wolverines received stout relief pitching throughout the postseason.
Earlier in the tournament, Sierra downed Riverside, which has won four state titles this decade and entered as the favorite.
