"It feels great," said senior right-hander Kyle Murray, who twirled a two-hit shutout. "We've been waiting a long time for this."
Having last won a league title four years ago, Crescenta Valley (20-7, 12-2 in league) prevented Arcadia (19-7, 10-4) from earning a share of its fourth championship in a row, as the Apaches lost their fourth straight league game to end the season after having won 41 consecutive league outings.
"This is a great feeling. Seven losses [in a row], that's no fun," said senior catcher Cam Silva in reference to the seven straight losses to Arcadia, which hadn't lost to CV since May of 2008. "We knew we had the guys to do it. We knew we had to the team to do it. We just had to get out here and do it and we finally did and it feels great."
While the title was a long time coming, the Falcons wasted little time on Friday, staking a 1-0 first-inning lead and never looking back or having reason to with Murray on the hill.
"[Having a share of the league title on Tuesday] meant nothing to us at all," Murray said. "We had pride. ... We owed it to the older guys to win it back."
Murray struck out nine, including the final batter of the game just before he jumped into Silva's arms and a celebratory dogpile ensued. He also walked just one, which came in the final inning, which was also only the second time an Arcadia runner ventured to second base.
"He was pumping strikes," Silva said. "I could just sit back there and know he was dominating. That's fun to catch."
The only two hits Arcadia could muster were of the infield variety, as Murray never waned, striking out five over the last three innings.
"I felt like I was getting stronger as the game went on," Murray said. "Everything went our way. Even if they did something good, something went better for us."
