GREELEY – PUEBLO – Manny Jiron couldn’t have picked a better time to break out of his hitting funk.
The Monte Vista sophomore smashed a one-out RBI-double into the right-center field gap, powering the Pirates to a 2-1 win over Denver Christian in eight innings Friday at Hobbs Field and vault them into the Class 2A state championship game.
“This feels great,” said the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Jiron who was 0-for-3 with a strikeout before his final at-bat. “I got a fastball up and away and I was just trying to hit it hard somewhere. It felt like I got it. It was a relief because I haven’t been hitting the ball well and I hit it when it counted most.”
Monte Vista, the No. 2 seed, upped its record to 26-1 and advanced to play reigning state champion and top-seeded Forge Christian (26-2) at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hobbs Field at the Runyon Sports Complex.
If Forge wins the 10 a.m. game, they will claim the title. If the Pirates win that game, then the two teams will meet again immediately on Saturday in a winner-take-all game to decide the champion in the eight-team double-elimination tournament.
Forge and Monte are no strangers.
Last Friday – May 22 – Forge outlasted the Pirates 3-2 in 11 innings in the semifinals.
Now Monte has a chance at redemption and can also capture the school’s first baseball state crown.
“We have to find a way to win any way we can,” Jiron said. “I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Monte Vista coach Luke Bradshaw is thrilled about the opportunity his team has Saturday.
“This team just competes,” Bradshaw said. “We felt like one got away last weekend. I was proud of the boys and their effort, they played their hearts out, but we felt like we let one get away. This game started to feel a lot like that, and it feels really good to come out on the right side of this one (against Denver Christian).”
The game – which was scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. – didn’t begin until 1:36 p.m. because of a lightning delay.
Monte Vista wasted no time getting its offense rolling. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a leadoff single by senior Kobe Jiron, Manny’s brother, and a one-out triple by Azariah Hurtado.
Denver Christian tied the game at 1-all in the top of the fourth inning on a one-out RBI sacrifice fly by Trey Speir.
The plot kept thickening as the game progressed and Denver Christian looked like it might take the lead in the top of the sixth when Cuatro Wilkins led off with a single to center field. He moved to second base on a fielder’s choice by Nate Bovasso.
That brought up Tanner McCoy who popped out to second baseman Manny Jiron.
Speir came to the plate and worked a 3-0 count from Monte pitcher Landon Sanchez. Sanchez regrouped with back-to-back strikes but uncorked a wild pitch to walk Speir and send Wilkins to third.
With a chance to give his team the lead, Camden Epperhart hit a deep shot to left field, but it was run down by Monte’s Domyon Naranjo to end the rally.
The Pirates also were knocking on the door for a win with the two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Judah Howe singled to left and then stole second base. Chayse Bouet reached first on an error to put runners at the corners and Sanchez came to the plate.
DC pitcher Charlie Davy got Sanchez to ground to shortstop Grady Gunnett who got the force out at second base to keep the game even.
Neither team could get anything going in the seventh inning, thus the game went into extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, DC’s Wilkins led off with a line drive single to left. Bovasso, the next batter, grounded into a double play. McCoy reached on an error by Monte first baseman Howe, but Speir grounded out to second to end the inning.
That set the stage of Monte’s memorable inning in the bottom of eighth.
Bouet smashed a liner off the glove of the pitcher Davy. Mark Martinez entered as a pinch runner for Bouet.
That brought up Hurtado who flew out to left.
Then, Manny Jiron stepped into the spotlight. He worked the count to 3-1 and was given a second chance when he popped up a ball in foul territory behind first base but it couldn’t be caught by any of the DC players.
Jiron seized the moment on the next pitch, slashing his walk-off double that scored Martinez all the way from first.
“It is amazing to see Manny do what he did,” Bradshaw said. “Manny is a great kid. He works his butt off. He has had a great year, and he has been slumping lately, and he was due for one. The pinch runner (Mark Martinez) we put in at first had not been in for weeks. He is a swing player and he bust his butt from first base to score. That’s a big moment for him. These guys just love each other and find a way to win. They don’t want this thing to be done. They believe in each other. They believe we can go win two games (Saturday).”
