PUEBLO – This was quite the statement.
Forge Christian began defense of its Class 2A baseball state championship by sweeping past Front Range Christian (15-0) and Dayspring Christian Academy (12-3) Friday in the opening day of this year’s state tourney at Hobbs Field at the Runyon Field Sports Complex.
“It helps having the experience of coming here and our routine, and we just do what we do,” Forge coach Jim Polson said. “We have been playing great defense, and the strength of our offense is pressure, pressure like always. We focus on base running, and things have been working for us. I’m happy with what we were able to do (Friday).”
Forge Christian (25-2), which entered this year’s state tourney as the top seed, has now won 10 games in a row.
Forge Christian advances to play No. 2-seeded Monte Vista (25-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The eight-team double-elimination tournament concludes May 30 when the state champion will be crowned at Runyon.
Monte Vista took care of Peyton (6-1) and Limon (6-1) on Friday to set up its clash with Forge.
“We have our No. 1 pitcher Ben Harhager ready to go (Saturday),” Polson said. “And, we just need to do what we do.”
Against Front Range, Ben McLean paced the Fury’s 11-hit attack with three hits and two RBIs.
Dayspring (17-6) drops into the elimination bracket Saturday.
After Forge left two runners on base in the bottom of the first – and failed to score – the Fury came alive in the second frame.
Lead-off hitter Ivan Murphy reached on an error and scored on a single by the next batter Owen Carlson after Dayspring had some confusion on the relay home.
Forge pushed its lead to 2-0 in the third when Sam Buerck’s infield bunt single scored Carson Hughes and then Jonah Boykin raced home on a field’s choice by Murphy, giving FC a 3-0 advantage.
Dayspring starting pitcher Beau Rupp was forced to exit the game – after 53 pitches – after he took a line drive off his right foreman off the bat of Carlson to lead off the fourth. Ethan Martinez came in relief of Rupp.
Moments later, at 3:30 p.m., a lightning delay was called by officials. Play resumed at 4:06 p.m. and then immediately it began raining.
Mother nature didn’t slow down the Fury. Forge’s Harhager proceeded to walk and then Jake Stocker singled.
McLean didn’t let his opportunity slip away as he cracked a two-run single to left putting the Fury up 5-0.
Dayspring finally answered in the top of the fifth, cutting the deficit to 5-2 on a one-out double to center by Owen Steward.
FC’s Boykin led off the fifth by getting hit by a pitch and then stole second. The Fury stretched their lead to 6-2 when Buerck stole second and Boykin raced home.
When the inning ended, Forge had two hits and Dayspring committed two errors and the Fury was ahead 7-2.
Stocker, a freshman, threw five innings – 68 pitches – gave up five hits, two earned runs, struck out three and walked one.
Dayspring answered with an RBI double by Tucker Gablehouse in the sixth to get within 7-3.
Forge added five runs in the bottom of the sixth, including a two-run double by Stocker to go up 12-3.
“It is great to come out and play the way we did (Friday),” the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Stocker said. “We took care of things. This is the best team I have played on and I was glad to do what I could to help the team win and move on.”
