3A Baseball: University Breaks Through With First Title Since 2019

GREELEY – Playing in its hometown of Greeley, and at a field the team knows all too well in Butch Butler, University felt confident entering championship Saturday.

“I pitched in three state championships,” Gage Viken said. “I’ve been here before. They haven’t (D’Evelyn) and I needed to trust my pitches, trust my defense behind me, and I needed to get the job done.”

With their dominant senior on the mound, the Bulldogs defeated D’Evelyn 5-0 to clinch the Class 3A baseball state championship.

University has long been a powerhouse in the sport, but had lost several title games recently. That made Saturday’s victory even sweeter.

“We’ve been on the other side of this one four years in a row,” head coach Casey Miller said. “It’s just nice to get one. Every year that we are here, the boys are just as deserving and just as good as this team. This team willed it to happen. There wasn’t going to be a team that stood in our way.”

University was in the driver’s seat entering the final day as they were unbeaten in the tournament. All they had to do was win the first game, or if D’Evelyn knocked them off in the morning, the winner-take-all second game.

Well, Viken delivered as he kept the talented Jaguar hitters, who scored 12 runs against Eaton in Friday’s semifinal, quiet. He only allowed two hits and two walks while racking up 10 strikeouts.

“Gage was locked from this morning,” Miller said. “We showed up and hit at 7:30 this morning and he was already in the zone. That’s what Gage Viken does here at Butch Butler.”

Viken used three filthy pitches to retire batter after batter.

“I was using a fastball, slider, and changeup,” the senior said. “I’ve been on varsity since I was a freshman. I’ve lost the last three years. Last year hurt a lot. To come back and win like this, there’s nothing like it.”

In 2025, University was the team who had their backs against the wall, but Viken pitched a gem to lead them to a 3-2 victory in game one. They dropped the championship finale 3-2 to Coal Ridge, though.

In his final high school game, before playing for junior college powerhouse Antelope Valley in California, he performed even better.

“Gage is a complete pitcher,” Miller said. “He puts it exactly where he wants to. To give up only two hits to that team that’s been a buzz saw for the last month to five weeks is a testament to Gage Viken.”

The veteran pitcher completed his senior year with an 8-1 record and a 1.62 ERA. If that wasn’t enough, the Bulldogs won 18 games in a row when they handed him the ball.

In total, University finished the season with a 27-2 record. Viken was quick to give his teammates plenty of credit.

“I think Max (Davis) might be the most underrated catcher in the league,” he said. “He has such a good fielding percentage. I trust him so much behind me. I wouldn’t want another catcher.”

Of course, University also needed their hitters to come through against D’Evelyn.

Joel Ramirez started the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning. Damian Alvarez added an RBI single in the third inning to make it 2-0. Viken can hit too, with a career batting average of .366, and he added an RBI single of his own in the third.

The lead was then lifted to 4-0 by Brody Duran with a sacrifice fly in the third. Evan Davey-Anderson gave them an even bigger cushion in the fourth with a sacrifice and the game’s final run in a 5-0 triumph.

“Our lineup is just great from the top,” Miller said. “Damian Alvarez, Derek Casillas, Joel Ramirez, and Gage Viken. One through nine were really solid, but we start at the top.”

Ramirez also signed with Antelope Valley, while Alvarez signed with McLennan, a junior college superpower team in Texas.

With such a great collection of talent, University won the Patriot League with a 10-0 record. The league has conquered 3A in eight of the past nine seasons.

During the state tournament, the Bulldogs beat Wellington, The Classical Academy, and rival Eaton last weekend.

Finally, on Saturday their head coach since 2018 earned his third state championship and University finished with a title for the sixth time in program history. They also won in 2019, 2018, 1997, 1992, and 1982.

“I really believe that we’ve been the best team in the state for awhile, but not guaranteeing that we were going to win anything,” Miller said. “I think these boys earned it and I think they deserved it.”