WHEAT RIDGE — Maybe fittingly, there was no final score to report from the Class 4A Jeffco League baseball game Thursday at Everitt Middle School.
After nearly 4 hours of baseball, D’Evelyn and Wheat Ridge players shook hands after the game was suspended due to darkness at 7:45 p.m. The Jaguars were leading 19-10 going to the bottom of the eighth inning.
D’Evelyn (8-5, 3-0 in league) scored 9 runs in the top of the eighth inning after the game went to extra innings. Wheat Ridge (2-10, 1-2) will bat in the bottom of the eighth inning when the game is resumed Saturday, April 22, at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School before the scheduled non-league game between the Jaguars and Farmers.
It was a game appropriate for a script to Stranger Things or The Twilight Zone.
Through 7 and a half innings, there were 26 walks and 5 hit-by-pitch. While there were 29 combined runs scored, D’Evelyn and Wheat Ridge managed just a dozen hits between the two squads.
D’Evelyn grabbed a 8-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning thanks to 2-run singles by Kannon Perry and Caden Seale. However, the Farmers had a 6-run bottom of the sixth to take a 10-8 lead.
The Farmers had just one hit in the inning, a 2-run single by freshman Nathan Trione Jr. Wheat Ridge took advantage of five walks and two Jaguar errors in the inning. Trione actually produced both of the Farmers’ two hits in the game.
Wheat Ridge was one out away from the victory in the top of the seven inning with a 10-9 lead with Trione on the mound. A fly ball to centerfield by Perry was dropped with two outs, allowing the tying run to score.
D’Evelyn senior Merrick Oleszeck pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. Oleszeck struck out the side to keep the game tied at 10-10.
The Jaguars kept the momentum going with a 9-run top of the eighth inning. D’Evelyn sent 14 batters to the plate. Colin Kim and Kyle Vanek both had 2-run hits and the Jaguars took advantage of six walks and two Farmer errors to grab a 19-10 lead.
D’Evelyn took the field defensively to start the bottom of the eighth inning, but after a short conversation between D’Evelyn coach Dan Porreco, Wheat Ridge coach Jarett Hack and the umpires it was decided to suspend the game due to darkness.