U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY – Broden Cox needed one pitch to carry out the instructions Falcon coach Brandon Stegman had given him.
The Falcons’ junior lined the first pitch he saw into center field for an RBI-single that scored Ethan Gentz, lifting No. 3 Falcon to a 4-3 win in eight innings over No. 8 Ponderosa in the Class 4A semifinal on Friday at Erdle Field.
Instead of laying down a bunt to advance teammates Gentz and Talan Chubb into scoring position, Cox sat on a fastball and delivered a shot to send Falcon (22-5) to its first-ever appearance in the state title game, where it will be the home team against No. 5 Pueblo County (22-6) on Saturday at 10 a.m.
“After they walked Talan, coach came up to me and said, ‘Go win the game,” Cox said. “That’s it. Go win the game. When I saw it was a fast ball, right out of the gate, I just knew that had to be my pitch.”
As Ponderosa (19-11) shortstop Beckham Davis swung around toward the hot corner and third baseman Jackson Blackadar charged home expecting Cox to lay down a bunt, Gentz had a clear view of the play in front of him.
Mustangs center fielder Aaron Crown fielded Cox’s frozen rope on one hop, and was in his throwing motion as Gentz’s foot struck third base. The throw home came in on the fly and was fielded a step in front of the plate by catcher Brayden Daffer.
But Gentz twisted his body and his left hand snuck in before Daffer’s swipe tag.
Ponderosa’s wheel play in anticipation of a bunt allowed Gentz to stretch his secondary lead from second base.
“I think they were dead set on a bunt there,” Gentz said. “Which is pretty much a textbook decision in that situation. I also didn’t think we’d be swinging first pitch either.
“After we didn’t take the first pitch, we just threw all the rules out the window. I saw Broden take a good swing and it was off to the races.”
For Stegman, there was never a doubt: Cox was going to swing away and Gentz was getting waved home on any hit to the outfield.
“All my guys are just tough and resilient,” said Stegman about his team who rallied from a 3-0 deficit and endured a 2 1/2-hour rain dealy. “We ain’t going to get cheated up there. We’re gonna eat and we’re gonna go get it and we will live and die by that sword. And that’s in their DNA. That’s what they want to be.”
Gentz set up Cox’s heroics when he bombed a double off the wall in right field gap to punctuate a 12-pitch at-bat to lead off the eighth. Chubb was intentionally walked which set up Cox’s moment.
“The biggest factor for us, is we know we have each other’s backs,” Cox said. “Each and every one of us wants this.”
Gentz had a double and two runs, Chubb had an RBI double and a run and Nash Holtz had a single and a run for Falcon. Caleb Korth had a double and a run and Ryan Spencer added an RBI single for the Mustangs.
Falcon starter Brayden Millikan gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits, walked one and fanned three over seven innings. Cox (4-0) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth.
Stegman said he’ll “sleep on” who gets the start Saturday, but that Millikan’s poise gave the pitching staff a chance to claim the school’s first state title.
“He was going to come out in the fifth and he told me, ‘Don’t you dare do it,’” the Falcon coach said. “Then he was going to come out in the sixth and said the same thing. I told him, ‘Look in my eyes,” and he said, ‘I got one more.’
“When you press innings in this kind of situation, in this tournament, and we have to win two tomorrow, sure, I’ll give him that inning. He’s just got courage as a senior, as a leader and as a mature dude.”
