Golden baseball bash out nine extra base hits against Denver South

GOLDEN — Cole Courtney has his baseball story that he will be able to tell family and friends for years to come.

The Golden right fielder and No. 9-hole hitter went 4-for-4 from the plate with five RBIs, including his first career home run in the Demons’ 14-4 victory in five innings over Denver South on Wednesday at Golden High School.

“I was just aiming to get to second base and I looked up, it was gone,” Courtney said of his 2-run home run in the fourth inning. “It was a good feeling. It put us in a good position for the rest of the game.”

The junior’s blast capped off a 5-run bottom of the fourth inning to extend the Demons’ lead to 10-0. An extensive search for the home run ball that flew over the left field fence came up empty handed, but Golden coach Jackie McBroom joked with Courtney after the game that he could give the junior the ball from his walk-off RBI single from the bottom of the fifth inning that ended the game.

Courtney’s 2-out RBI single induced the 10-run mercy rule.

“That is how everyone’s No. 9 hole hits. Right? Cole is good,” McBroom said with a smile talking about Courtney’s day at the plate. “We have four outfielders who swing the bat pretty well. It makes it challenging to get them all into the game.”

Golden (11-2 record) got the offense going from the jump. Junior Dylan Paulson led off the bottom of the first inning with an opposite field solo home run over the right field fence. The Demons scored in every inning while putting up 17 hits.

Senior Gunnar Herrick was 2-for-3 from the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior Brody McBroom was 2-for-3 from the plate with an RBI. Junior Liam Leffert had a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Senior Charlie Thompson was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Sophomore Austin Bittner was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

“We found a lot of barrels,” Coach McBroom said of the offensive output that gave the Demons their seventh game this season scoring double-digit runs. “It was good one through nine. Everyone did something.”

It looked like Golden would get a 10-0 shutout victory against Denver South (6-6). The Ravens were down to their final out, but had three straight hits to plate four runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Demons’ lead to 10-4.

The big blow was a 3-run home run by junior Evan Cahill.

“I think I was working around them well, but running up my (pitch) count,” Bittner said. “I was hitting spots, but giving them too much of the zone of some of those off-speed pitches. It happens. It’s baseball.”

Bittner was solid on the mound giving up just two hits through four shutout innings on the mound. The sophomore finished with 10 strikeouts despite not being at his best.

“He (Bittner) should learn from it,” Coach McBroom said of his sophomore lefty giving up four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth inning. “That wasn’t his A-game. We’ve seen a lot better from him, but still, he only gave up four runs. If that is a bad day for him we are OK.”

The scoring output by Denver South just allowed Golden to get back to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning where they put up a quick four runs on four hits.

“Our team can hit and it helps when we have our guy (Bittner) on the bump behind us,” Courtney said of the 17-hit output that included nine extra-base hits. “It feels good knowing he has our back and our defense is good. It feels good when the bats are swinging.”

It was the sixth straight win for the Demons, who finish non-league play at Longmont on Saturday. Golden — attempting to win a sixth straight Jeffco League title — open league play at Standley Lake on Tuesday, April 21.

“We are hungry for league. We want another one,” Courtney said of Golden entering the 9-game conference schedule. “We are ready to go into it.”

Coach McBroom said this year’s Demons have a strong bond and sense of camaraderie.

“They are excited about getting into league, but I think they are just excited to play baseball,” Coach McBroom said. “The fact that league is coming up is cool.”