GREELEY — Instead of a full slate of state high school baseball games Saturday, the Class 3A bracket was rearranged following Friday’s wet weather.
Many games were moved to Monday, although two games are scheduled for Saturday – one the completion of a contest called on account of rain.
Rain delays at both Butch Butler Field in Greeley and at Frederick High School’s facility created a long day for the eight schools involved in the opening round of the state tournament.
Three opening-round games were decided, however, while the fourth is to be continued.
In Greeley, Eaton opened with an 11-0 win in six innings over Gunnison, while Brush rallied in 10 innings to defeat Peak to Peak, 3-2.
Meanwhile in Frederick, Sterling also went into extras, stopping Valley 12-9 in nine innings.
Rain and hail delayed the second half of the doubleheader in Frederick, where University and Bayfield were tied 4-4 entering the seventh. Before the field was hit by a deluge, the game was delayed by rain and hail four times.
The Bulldogs and Wolverines are to resume their game at 9:30 Saturday morning at Butch Butler. The winner will play Sterling shortly thereafter.
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Reds down ‘Diggers
Brush and unbeaten Eaton were the only teams to get in two games Friday. After the Reds saddled the Cowboys with a shutout loss, they edged the Beetdiggers, 2-0.
“We’ve had some tough one- and two-run games this year,” said Eaton Coach Jim Danley, whose team improved to 25-0. “It’s toughened us up, so the kids know how to play in a pressure atmosphere.”
The game’s big hit was delivered by Eaton senior Ryan Koehler, who led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run over the fence in right-center field. The Reds led 1-0 after junior Joe Mondragon walked to start the fourth. Mondragon moved to third base on a single by sophomore Sean Carson and then scored when junior Joe Kuhn bounced a single into left.
Junior Dalton Lind and senior Lane Greiman combined on a one-hitter, with Lind getting the win after pitching the first 4 2/3 innings.
While the right-hander struck out four and didn’t walk anyone, he was lifted on a 3-1 count in the top of the fifth. Greiman ended the inning with a pop-up and continued to get help from his defense in the sixth and seventh.
Each was a 1-2-3 inning, with the seventh highlighted by the defensive play of the game.
Brush senior Kyle Rosenbrock, who pitched well enough to win, nearly had himself a leadoff walk. But after Greiman fell behind in the count 3-0, he got Rosenbrock to pop out to Mondragon at first base.
But that wasn’t the play of the game. Mondragon hustling into short right field to catch another pop-up with his back to home plate was.
“I was just going straight back, and I was lucky enough to see it at the last minute,” Mondragon said of his running down the short fly for the penultimate out.
“That was a huge, big-time play,” Danley said, “because if the ball lands, the tying run is at the plate.”
Instead, Mondragon successfully handled his third chance of the inning, gloving a ground ball with an underhand assist to Greiman, who got the save.
Danley credited Rosenbrock with a strong effort, who allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
“I thought our pitching was great, too,” Danley said. “It was a career best for Lind. Then Greiman came in and shut the door with his sidearm knuckle-curve.”
Eaton isn’t scheduled to play again until Monday afternoon, when the Reds will take on the winner of the Sterling-Bayfield/University game.
That gives Eaton an unexpected opportunity to relax, play one game, and then get ready for the remainder of the tournament that is scheduled for May 22-23.
“It will give (senior Brady) Tedesco a chance to get full rest,” Danley said. “He pitched four days ago (in the Reds’ 5-1 district-clinching win over Lutheran).”
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Brush gets by Peak to Peak in extras
Brush (17-7) will play again in Monday’s second game at Butch Butler, where it will play the winner of the Valley-Bayfield/University elimination game.
The Beetdiggers advanced to the game against Eaton with their extra-inning win over Peak to Peak.
Leadoff hitter B.J. Hirshfeld singled, stole second base and then scored the game-winning run on a single by Arnoldo Maltos-Garcia.
Hirshfeld also pitched four innings in relief of starter Niko Guzman to get the win.
Guzman went the first six frames and allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Hirshfeld went the final four and scattered six hits with three strikeouts but did allow the tying run in the top of the eighth, when the Pumas’ Jack Walther singled, advanced on a hit by Alex Bradfield, then scored on Matt Bognato’s single.
In Eaton’s opening win, it was staked to an early lead by Matt Burkart’s two-run home run after a single by Koehler. Caron and Tedesco also drove in runs in the Reds’ five-run first inning.
Eaton led Gunnison 8-0 after three innings, then won on the 10-run rule in the sixth when the Reds scored three times without getting a hit. Two walks, a hit batter and an error led to the early ending.
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Notes:
- Eaton is 4-0 in games decided by two or fewer runs this season.
- There are five schools (Brush, Eaton, Sterling, University and Valley) from the Patriot League in the eight-team state bracket.
- The seventh inning of Eaton’s second game Friday began at 7 p.m.
- The game between Brush and Peak to Peak was delayed an hour “by two lightning strikes and steady, slow rain,” tournament director John Haefeli said.
- Haefeli said by playing just one full game Saturday and adding Monday’s games to the schedule allows the bottom half of the bracket to catch up with the top portion.
