PUEBLO – Thanks to showing the heart of a champion and resiliency – Denver Christian is back in the Class 2A state baseball championship game to defend its title.
The Thunder rallied with a five-run sixth inning to muscle past Lyons 6-2 Saturday afternoon in the 2A semifinal game at Hobbs Field on the Runyon Field Sports Complex.
“First of all, glory to God for giving us the opportunity to play the game he has blessed us with the ability to play,” Denver Christian coach Sam Jones said. “We talked early in the season about how a champion has the heart of a lion. A lion just keeps going. They keep coming after you, they don’t back down.
“What happened there (in the bottom of the sixth inning) really embodied that. We stood up to the challenge and we ran to the battle and no moment was too big for us. I’m so proud of the fight of all our guys.”
Denver Christian (23-4) moves on to the state title game at 10 a.m., June 1 at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Rawlings Field in the double-elimination tourney.
DC is aiming for its fourth state baseball crown in school history to go along with the ones it captured in 1996, 2013 and 2023.
No. 12-seeded Lyons (18-8), which beat Swink 12-2 and unbeaten Limon (5-1) Friday, drops down into the consolation bracket and it will face the winner of the Limon (26-1)-Buena Vista (19-7) game at 12:30 p.m., May 31 at Runyon Sports Complex. Limon and Buena Vista clash at 10 a.m., May 31 at Runyon.
Denver Christian beat Lyons 12-0 on May 14.
However, things didn’t come easy for the Thunder on Saturday.
DC was trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth and that’s when the Thunder’s offense finally struck.
Lead-off hitter Brayden Epperhart singled to right field and after James Lord grounded out to second base, Patrick Elson blooped a single to center and Nate Bovasso had an infield single to deep short. That’s when Frankie Spallone stepped up with the bases full and struck looking for the second out.
This game needed a hero and Nathan Buehrer delivered.
The senior laced a hot grounder that Lyons shortstop Jake LaCrosse couldn’t handle, allowing two runs to score, giving DC its first lead 3-2.
“I prayed about it, and I had a lot of nerves,” Buehrer said. “When I stepped in the box, I felt like everything went quiet and he (Lyons pitcher Zack LaCrosse) gave me a curveball and I took it and then he gave me a fastball and I saw it and I smacked it. It was a great feeling and a great moment.”
The clutch effort by Buehrer drew praise from Jones.
“Senior Nate Buehrer stepped up with that two-out hit and I’m just so proud of him,” Jones said. “He’s been a four-year starter and an everyday guy and just a workhorse.”
Buehrer’s hit ignited the Thunder’s offense. Caleb Stork, the next batter, clubbed a two-run single to right to push DC ahead 5-2. Then, Mason Reilly concluded the scoring with an RBI single, giving the Thunder a four-run lead.
“This feels great,” said Stork, who was 3-for-4 on the day. “It has been the goal all season and we knew we could get back to the championship game and we did it. There was some doubt, but we kept going up there and we were putting some good swings on the ball and eventually we knew they would start falling. We put together some good at-bats together in row in that sixth inning and we broke through.”
Stork started on the mound and went 5 1/3 innings, giving up two unearned runs and striking out four. Lord came in relief and threw 1 2/3 innings and allowed no runs to get the win.
Lyons took a 1-0 lead in the second when Wyatt Waters smashed a double to right center and eventually scored on an errant throw by catcher Asher Hawes.
In the bottom of the fourth, Denver Christian’s Bovasso tied the game at 1 with a two-out RBI single.
That’s where the scored remained until the sixth inning – the turning point in the game.
In the top of the frame, Lyons’ David Abernathy reached first on an infield single, bringing up Jake LaCrosse whose pop up was dropped by DC third baseman Reilly but he still threw Abernathy out at second.
Waters then singled to center and LaCrosse raced to third base. After an umpire meeting it was determined that LaCrosse was unable to come home because a fake tag was made by Reilly while the ball was in center field, forcing the LaCrosse to slide. Since LaCrosse couldn’t advance home because of the fake tag, he was awarded the next base to score the run.
The craziness in the top of the inning just set the stage for DC’s game-winning heroics in the bottom of the frame.
“We will go back to work this week and treat it no different than any other week,” Jones said. “Keep putting in the work we have put in all season and just be ready to go (on June 1) and give it our best shot and leave it all out on the field.”
