LITTLETON — Chaparral rode a wave of momentum Saturday to win the Class 5A District 3 baseball title and a berth into the eight-team double-elimination state tournament next week.
Behind a remarkable outing on the mound by senior Brad Brown, the fifth-place team out of the tough Continental League shocked Columbine with a 12-3 victory on the Rebels’ home field.
“This season has been up-and-down and all around,” Chaparral coach Tony Persichina said. “We just battled back. It’s a testament to those guys. They are phenomenal kids.”
The Wolverines dug themselves a 6-0 hole in the district semifinal at Frank DeAngelis Field at Columbine High School against Prairie View. Chaparral (13-8) battled back for an 11-8 victory to advance to the district title game against Columbine (19-2).
“I knew my guys would pull it out,” Brown said about his team’s comeback against Prairie View. “We’ve done what we’ve needed to do all year long to get to where we are at now.”
Chaparral started off against the Rebels right where it left off. The Wolverines put up four runs in the top of the second inning and added another pair in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead.
Sophomore Addison Kaasch started the damage with an RBI double in the second inning off Columbine pitcher Isaish Montoya. A pair of Rebel errors, along with RBI singles by Spencer Olwell and Paul Green gave the Wolverines a quick 4-0 advantage.
“I wasn’t surprised how our team hit today,” Kaasch said of Chaparral’s 12 runs against the Rebels, a team that hadn’t given up double-digit runs in a game all season. “We had a good game today.”
Kaasch put the exclamation point on for Chaparral with a grand slam home run in a six-run top of the seventh inning for the Wolverines.
“Chaparral got the upper-hand with some early runs,” Columbine coach Chuck Gillan said. “We just couldn’t figure it out. We are a momentum-type team. Usually if we start hitting everyone gets it going. He (Brown) mowed down the top of our lineup that first go-around and it was kind of a slow start for us.”
Brown actually had a no-hitter going through five innings. Columbine senior Donny Ortiz broke up the no-no with a single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior Austin Anderson followed up with an RBI single and sophomore Tommy Gillman drove in a run on a groundout to close the deficit to 6-2.
However, Kaasch’s slam in the top of the seventh and Columbine’s fourth fielding error of the game pushed the deficit to 12-2 going to the bottom of the seventh.
“(Chaparral) played well. The credit goes to those guys over there. Our kids didn’t quit. They just couldn’t get any momentum today,” coach Gillman said. “The fourth, fifth and sixth it looked like we were starting to wake up. Then (Chaparral) put it away by scoring a bunch of runs.”
Columbine had its bats going against Legacy senior pitcher Lucas Gilbreath. The lefty had a 6-1 record and 1.20 ERA going into the district semifinal against the Rebels. Columbine cruised to a 10-0 victory in six innings to open the district tournament.
The Rebels’ ace, senior Blake Weiman had 11 strikeouts in the complete-game shutout to grab his seventh victory on the mound this season.
It was Brown’s turn to shine on the mound in the district championship game. The senior lefty had an ERA of 4.15 and suffered four losses this season, including a 13-0 loss to Regis where he gave up eight runs in the first inning.
“I put in the work all week,” said Brown who gave up three runs on just three hits for the complete-game victory. “I knew I’d come out with some good stuff.”
The Wolverines will face conference rival Mountain Vista in the opening round of the double-elimination state tournament at 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 16, at All-City Field. Mountain Vista edge Chaparral 2-1 in their league meeting back on April 21.
“I think we are one of the more talented teams out here,” Brown said. “As long as we play our best ball I think we’ve got a pretty good shot.”
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