SECTA baseball’s remarkable turnaround – Las Vegas Sun News

SECTA baseball players walked off the field with their heads hung. Some were in disbelief.

A team expected to compete for the Class 4A state championship had just been beaten by Sierra Vista, 9-3. 

That loss on March 12 — in which they managed just five hits, committed two errors and looked lethargic — led to a stern talk from longtime coach Bill Stuber.

The general consensus was that the team had great talent, but it was playing as individuals rather than as a collective unit. Individual accolades needed to take a back seat to team success, Stuber insisted.

What transpired was beautiful.

SECTA won its next five games and went on to beat nine straight Las Vegas opponents, turning its season around in the process. By the time the playoffs hit this month, that team with state title aspirations looked every bit like a contender.

They closed the season on an eight-game winning streak, beating Silverado 9-2 on May 16 for the program’s first state championship.

“That was a pretty hard conversation. We needed a reset,” said Briggs Barlow, the team’s leader, who posted a 6-4 record with a 2.39 earned run average and batted .310 with 27 runs scored.

The win was a long time coming for Stuber, who wrapped up his 21st season. When the school — then known as Vo-Tech — restarted baseball in 2006, it was “thrown to the wolves” when placed in a division alongside the likes of Green Valley and Coronado, schools with year-round players and a history of strong programs.

They had none of that, just a group of mostly seasonal players who, like their coach, logged the hours and competed.

While those early seasons featured plenty of losing, Stuber wouldn’t change a thing. If anything, the losing — his overall record stands at 232-278-3 — makes the championship run more special. He is savoring his time on top.

Players returned to school Monday to a parade through campus, being greeted by cheering classmates.

“Absolutely a great experience for the kids,” Stuber said.

The tide started to turn about seven years ago when a youth club approached Stuber asking to use the SECTA field for practices. When those players wanted to stay together in high school, SECTA became a natural fit — though not necessarily because of its baseball team, which was coming off a two-win season in 2019.

Most selected the school for its nationally recognized magnet program. The team has won five straight NIAA academic state championships for the highest combined grade point average.

“It’s more than baseball. The parents value the education (their children) are receiving here,” Stuber said.

The transformation of the program and being its first state champion isn’t lost on the players. They are proud to be history makers.

“Baseball is a brotherhood,” senior pitcher Nick Collingbourne said. “When we started playing as a team, the difference (was noticeable).”

The Roadrunners finished with an 18-16 record — a mark that was partially by design. Stuber scheduled a who’s who of local opponents in the preseason, where the team got invaluable reps against quality Class 5A pitching. 

They lost to Arbor View, Centennial and Shadow Ridge by the mercy rule, but were more competitive than the final scores indicated, Stuber said.

By the time they got to the state tournament, that experience paid dividends. They yielded just six runs across three state tournament games.

Junior catcher Toren Wolf said “no team could hit us.”

It was the kind of ending to a season Stuber had long envisioned. Over the years, he never thought about stepping away.

And that’s because of the school. Many teachers have been there for decades leading the transformation into one of the valley’s premier schools.

“The support I’ve had from our administration has always been amazing,” he said.