COLORADO SPRINGS – Talan Chubb recognized the pitch the moment it was thrown.
Still, he could hardly believe what was coming.
A fastball. Right down the middle. No spin, no cut and no doubt in his mind what he wanted to do with it.
The No. 3 Falcon cleanup hitter blasted the go-ahead home run on a 3-2 pitch in the sixth inning to lead the Falcons to a 2-1 win over No. 7 Holy Family in a Class 4A second round baseball playoff game on Friday at Mountain Lion Park on the campus of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Brayden Millikan (4-0) went the distance for the Falcons (22-4) to earn the win, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Branson Trostle (1-2) gave up three hits, two runs (one earned), walked one and struck out two for the Tigers (18-10).
“I was just looking to extend the at-bat,” said Chubb about his approach before he launched his fifth homer of the season. “I didn’t think there was any way I was going to get a fastball. I hadn’t come through in those situations so I was in my head a little.”
Even with the wind blowing out to left field, Falcon coach Brandon Stegman reminded Chubb to stay locked in on his approach, that he shouldn’t try to go deep.
“Coach talked to me today and said, ‘You’re not a home run hitter,’” Chubb quipped. “I said, ‘I am a power hitter, I promise.’
“When I got back to the dugout, it was like I just blacked out. It was crazy. Just all the emotions running through me were super exciting.”
While Chubb kept his promise, it was Millikan that got the better of Trostle in a pitchers’ duel with some tidy defense. In his first appearance all season at first base, Kasen Patton dug three throws out of the ‘dirt’ with scoops and center fielder Broden Cox sprinted from left center field to capture the last out of the game with a diving catch.
“I didn’t think it would be 2-1, maybe 8-5 but my team made a lot of great plays behind me,” Millikan said. “The game plan was to let my defense make plays behind me and work efficiently instead of trying to be perfect and walk some guys. I wanted to get ahead in the count.”
The Falcons first base runner came in the third, when they took a 1-0 lead. Garrett Kyle drew a leadoff walk, and after a strikeout, Tyler Reichers bunted. The throw sailed down the right field line.
With runners on first and third, Aaron Jaquez’s sacrifice fly to deep center field scored Kyle.
Holy Family finally put some traffic on the bases in the fourth on Eddie Hill’s leadoff single and Kaden Hopkins’ one-out walk. But Millikan fielded a hot shot back up the middle, threw a little high to second, but Chubb came down with the throw and Patton made his first scoop at first to complete the inning-ending double play.
James Nokes
“I go with my gut a lot and that kid (Patton) just rides the lightning,” Stegman said. “He hadn’t even touched first base in a game all year long.”
“Today, Millikan just went out there and put this team on his back. We talk about your pitcher giving us courage or he won’t. That guy today gave us the utmost courage.”
Britain Fox ripped an RBI single in the fifth up the middle and the Tigers tied the game 1-1.
After Chubb’s homer, the Falcons’ defense had one more chance to shine as Cox sent everyone out to center field to celebrate his diving stab.
“The outfielders were all shifted around to the pull side, so when it went up, I hoped it would be a catch,” Millikan said. “There’s not a better way to end the game.”
It was a game-ending catch that set up Falcon in Saturday’s semifinal showdown against No. 5 Pueblo County at 2:30 at UCCS. Holy Family plays at noon against the winner of No. 8 Ponderosa and No. 4 Grand Junction.
No. 7 Holy Family 7, No. 2 Durango 6: The Tigers rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a six-run fifth inning. Britain Fox went 2-for-4 with a run, two RBIs and a stolen base, Eddie Hill had two hits, two runs and an RBI, and Isaiah Sandoval added a hit and two runs.
No. 3 Falcon 7, No. 6 Canon City 4: Brayden Millikan went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs as the Falcons rallied from a 4-0 deficit.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Falcons immediately answered. Falcon tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom half of the first as the first five batters reached base.
Millikan hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the second for a 5-4 lead. The Falcons tacked on insurance runs in the third on Garrett Kyle’s RBI single and in the fourth on Millikan’s solo home run.
