Arvada West baseball wins 9-inning marathon versus Cherokee Trail

ARVADA — You got a little bit of everything when Cherokee Trail and Arvada West squared off on the baseball diamond Tuesday.

A little pregame hailstorm, both starting pitchers having no-hitters through four innings, Cherokee Trail scoring three runs with no hits in the top of the fourth inning, along with A-West scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the near 3-hour marathon.

“For the four years I’ve been up here all I’ve preached is the same message. Pitching and defense will keep us in games,” A-West coach Danny Vais said after the 4-3 Wildcat victory that took extra innings. “Weird things start to happen the later it gets in games. Things get close.”

Cherokee Trail (7-4 record) held a 3-0 lead through five innings. The Cougars took advantage of two walks, two errors and a wild pitch to plate three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Along with the lead, Cherokee Trail senior lefty pitcher Carter Wilcox — University of Iowa commit — was cruising with a 2-hit shutout with nine strikeouts through five innings.

“Full shoutout to him (Wilcox). He is an amazing pitcher,” A-West junior Levi Lueck said of Wilcox who threw 93 pitches. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more gross pitcher in my life. He is good.”

The Wildcats (7-1-1) weren’t heartbroken when Wilcox didn’t come out to pitch the sixth inning. Connor Carlson took over on the mound and A-West took advantage. A-West junior Luke Alonso walked and Lueck belted a 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Cougars’ lead to 3-2.

With A-West still trailing and down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh, Lueck delivered again with a hard-hit single to tie the game at 3-3.

“Levi put some great swings on some balls,” Vais said of Lueck having three of A-West’s five hits on the day.

Fittingly, Lueck scored the game-winning run with another 2-out rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lueck had a 2-out single. He advance to second when junior Cameron Thornton walked.

“We knew the last two innings the (Cherokee Trail) pitchers had a hard time finding the zone,” said Lueck about advancing to third on a wild pitch. “He (Brennan Niewinski) spiked it, I saw it kick to the right and I took off.”

Lueck scored on the wild pitch and was mobbed by teammates after scoring the game-winning run for A-West’s fifth straight victory. The victory capped off back-to-back wins in consecutive days. The Wildcats took a 4-1 victory over Mountain Vista on Monday.

“We challenged them with the week we had ahead,” Coach Vais said of facing Mountain Vista, Cherokee Trail and Fort Collins over a 6-day stretch. “We are trying to get these guys to believe in what we practice and what we do.”

A-West’s pitching was extremely impressive. Sophomore starter Cooper Vais went five innings giving up just one hit while striking out nine hitters.

“The pitching has been amazing. I’ve got to say that first,” Lueck said of the Wildcat pitchers that gave up just two hits in the 9-inning marathon. “We can’t do anything without the pitching.”

Junior Beau Friesen relieved Vais in the sixth inning and was just as impressive giving up no runs and allowing just one hit in three innings of work. Alonso actually picked up the victory after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth inning, striking out a pair.

“I tell these guys all the time, I’m never going to put a guy into a position where I don’t think they can succeed,” Coach Vais said of his pitchers. “We have all the confidence in Beau (Friesen). We have all the confidence in Luke (Alonso).”

A-West is scheduled for a road game up north to Fort Collins on Saturday, April 5, to face the Lambkins.

The Wildcats will begin Class 5A Jeffco League play next week on Thursday, April 10, at Chatfield. The Chargers (6-4) ended a 3-game losing streak Tuesday with a 9-2 victory over Dakota Ridge.

“League is super important. They are a different intensity,” Lueck said. “We play Chatfield first. They are a loud team and they bring the energy. It will be a competitive league.”