Greeley>> Coal Ridge’s and University’s pitchers, hitters and defenses perhaps couldn’t have been any better tested than they were Saturday at Butch Butler Field.

What was likely put to the biggest test, though, was the Titans’ and Bulldogs’ wills.

Ultimately, it was Coal Ridge’s will to do something it had never done before that got the narrow edge over University’s will to avoid doing something it has done far too many times.

Capping a day in which the two teams played 21 innings against each other, over the span of nearly seven hours, the second-seeded Titans secured a 3-2 nail-biter against the top-seeded Bulldogs in the second of two finals games in the Class 3A baseball championship.

It was the first boys state title, in any sport, for Coal Ridge.

“It says a lot about their heart, their determination and their love for each other,” Titans head coach Dan Larsen said. “It’s all just one big family, that little town out there in New Castle. And we got it done. We’re more than proud. It’s going to be a beautiful drive home.”

University (26-5) has had to settle for being the proverbial bridesmaid four times now since winning back-to-back state titles in 2018 and ’19. The Bulldogs had been the runner-up to Eaton the previous three years.

Even after dropping a crucial 3-0 loss to Coal Ridge a week earlier, University was in prime position to win its seventh state title in program history after showing plenty of hardiness in a 3-2 win in a 14-inning game that spanned nearly four hours earlier in the day Saturday.

Because the Titans came into the day without a loss in the double-elimination tournament, the Bulldogs would have needed to beat them twice Saturday to wrestle away the title.

University junior Joel Ramirez sliced a walk-off RBI single to score senior Medardo Abrego and give his team the hard-fought win in the initial game Saturday.

The Titans didn’t dwell on that bitter loss, stepping back into the batter’s box just 40 minutes later.

After a scoreless first inning, junior Wyatt Murray got Coal Ridge on the board with one RBI single to score fellow junior George Roberts in the top of the second.

The Titans tacked on a pair of insurance runs, going up 3-0, on back-to-back RBI by standout senior Ben Simons and junior John Luke Houston in the top of the second.

University trimmed the gap to 3-1 on a Gage Viken bloop RBI single in the fourth. The Bulldogs then pulled within a run, 3-2, when Viken again drove home a run in the bottom of the sixth.

But with a chance to deny Coal Ridge school history, and shake that silver-trophy-hoisting monkey off its back, University was retired in three at-bats in the bottom of the seventh.