Hammer time

The hammer cost $20.

Mesilla Valley Christian’s baseball team spent $180 trying to win it. By the end of the season, nobody thought it was overpriced.

Somewhere between arcade games in Hobbs and a state championship trophy in Albuquerque, the inflatable hammer became the symbol of the season for the SonBlazers. It was loud, ridiculous and somehow perfect for a team that turned friendship, dugout energy and belief into the first baseball state title in school history.

“It wasn’t about any strategy other than, ‘Hey, if we win, we get to take a picture with the hammer,’” Mesilla Valley Christian head coach Jeremy Sullivan said.

And they kept winning. After winning the hammer during the Eunice tournament, the SonBlazers went 16-0 the rest of the way. The first team they beat with it was Hozho Academy. The last team they beat with it was Hozho Academy, 22-0, in the Class 2A championship game.

“So the hammer is probably our team MVP,” Sullivan said.

The story started when players wandered into an arcade attached to a barbecue restaurant during the Eunice tournament. Sullivan jokingly told them to win a giant inflatable hammer hanging on the wall. They took the challenge seriously.

“We spent $180 on the $20 hammer,” junior Weston Marr said.

Soon, the hammer became part of every celebration. After wins, players posed for team photos with it, and the team, not the coaches, decided who earned the right to hold it after each game.

“It was their thing,” Sullivan said. “The coaching staff just kind of let them run with it.”

That freedom reflected the personality of the team itself.

“We all play better when we’re loose,” sophomore Zach Beasley said.

The dugout got louder as the games got bigger. Players joked constantly, even during tense playoff moments, and teammates said the relaxed atmosphere helped keep mistakes from snowballing.

“One mistake never turned into two,” Sullivan said.

Mesilla Valley Christian rolled through the state tournament after earning a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed. The SonBlazers beat Rehoboth Christian 11-5 in the quarterfinals, then shut out top-seeded Eunice 4-0 behind Marr’s one-hit masterpiece before overwhelming Hozho Academy in the title game. Fourth innings became their signature.

The SonBlazers broke open all three state tournament wins in the fourth inning, including a 16-run explosion in the championship game. Against Hozho Academy, Mesilla Valley Christian scored 15 runs before recording an out.

“It almost didn’t feel real,” Beasley said. “You look up at the scoreboard and almost think twice. Did we actually just put that much in one inning?”

Mesilla Valley Christian finished 19-3 overall and outscored opponents 37-5 during the state tournament. But Sullivan said the championship run was less about statistics than trust.

“Our varsity consists of 13 guys, and it was all 13 of them,” he said. “It wasn’t one guy.”

That depth showed throughout the playoffs.

Senior Kaden Warner, playing only his second season of baseball, sparked the quarterfinal offense with three hits and four runs scored. Marr dominated Eunice on the mound. In the championship game, Beasley, Marr and Ben Moreman all erupted offensively together.

The SonBlazers had stars. Beasley hit .700 with four home runs. Marr batted .644 with five home runs while posting a 1.41 ERA. Moreman hit .544.

But players repeatedly pointed back to the bond they built away from the field.

“We really just started playing as a team and not just as a bunch of guys playing baseball,” Beasley said.

Several players have attended Mesilla Valley Christian since kindergarten. Marr followed the path of an older brother who reached two championship games but never won one. Warner stayed while friends transferred to larger schools. Moreman said he transferred partly because he wanted stronger friendships and a deeper faith environment.

Before every game, the SonBlazers prayed together.

“We’re not playing for anybody in the stands,” Marr said. “We’re playing for Him.”

For Sullivan, that perspective shaped the entire program.

“I’m here to disciple young men,” he said. “Baseball just happens to be the vehicle.”

The championship also carried meaning for a small 2A school competing in a city dominated by larger programs.

“People don’t even know our school exists sometimes,” Warner said. “But when it comes to sports, we’re usually the last Las Cruces team left in the playoffs.”

Now, the SonBlazers are the team that finally brought home a baseball championship.

And somewhere along the way, a giant inflatable hammer became the perfect symbol for a loose, loud and tightly connected group that believed it could do something no team in school history had done before.