1994 State Championship Baseball Team

Team

Before the Warriors brought home Whitfield’s first-ever state championship trophy, the team put together one of the most exciting seasons in school history. Playing a schedule comprised of predominately 2A and 3A teams, the Warriors entered the Class 1A District 5 tournament with a reputation of an offensive juggernaut. They were batting a collective .389 as a team and had scored over 200 runs in just 19 games. Several individuals on the team were tops in the area in RBIs, batting average and stolen bases.

After winning the district championship, also a school first for the baseball program, the Warriors advanced through the state tournament and carried a 20-5-1 record into the state championship game against Billings.

After a back-in-forth extra-inning game, Whitfield trailed 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth. Kris Weaver started the come-back with a one-out single, stole second and then advanced to third on a throwing error by the Billings catcher. With Jared Johnson at the plate, the pitcher threw a wild pitch and Kris came in with the game-tying run.

After reaching on a single, Jared stole second and third creating an overwhelming distraction for the pitcher. He intentionally walked Ryan Hetzer and followed with another walk to Jesse Axtell. With the bases loaded, freshman Robert Rahm calmly took four straight balls to score Jared from third with the winning run.

Jesse Axtell '94
Mark Baden '96
Kirk Daues '95
Brad Finger '97
Ryan Helmkamp '97
Ryan Hetzer '95
Jared Johnson '94
Todd Lazarus '96
Mike McGinnis '96
Robert Rahm '97
Alex Schuchard '94
Jon Shine '96
Custis Smith '97
Cory Spielberg '94
Kris Weaver '95